Apple launches first Entrepreneur Camp for Latin founders

March 3, 2022

UPDATE

Apple launches first Entrepreneur Camp for Latin founders

This week, Apple launched its first Entrepreneur Camp for Hispanic and Latino Founders, inviting leaders and developers from nine app companies from the United States, Brazil, Guatemala and Portugal to build the next generation of cutting-edge apps.

“We are thrilled to further the impact of Entrepreneur Camp with the addition of this new cohort of Latino technologists,” said Lisa Jackson, vice president of environment, policy and social initiatives at Apple. “It’s an honor to support these founders and developers on their journeys as they create amazing apps that connect, inform and inspire us.”

During this immersive tech lab, developers receive one-on-one code-level guidance from Apple experts and engineers to help them accelerate their apps. Participants also receive mentorship, inspiration and ideas from company leaders.

The first Entrepreneur Camp was held in 2019 for app-focused companies founded and led by developers from underrepresented backgrounds in tech. Early cohorts have focused on female founders and developers, and last year Apple welcomed its first group of black female founders.

Program alumni have gone on to secure major rounds of funding, won awards and accolades, and successfully sold their businesses in major acquisitions. Former app participant BookSloth recently became the first-ever female-led tech company acquisition in Puerto Rico.

More Entrepreneur Camp alumni apps can be found on the App Store here.

Meet the developers

“Cuca Catch”
Brazil
Apple Developer Academy graduates Matheus Kulick, Theo Caldas and Kassio Veras wanted to find a way to use technology to promote Brazilian folklore and culture. They recently launched “Taking Cuca” on the App Store — a dynamic game that uses users’ facial expressions to help Cuca, Brazil’s most iconic witch, create potions.

Encantos: play, learn and grow
United States

A few years ago, CEO and Encantos Co-founder Steven Wolfe Pereira was looking for a way to share his Dominican culture with his children and embarked on the adventure of launching a diverse content library. As his company grew into a full team, including developers Keith Elliott and Francine Walker, their focus expanded to helping children improve their literacy and life skills through audio, videos, books and games from creators in underrepresented communities.

Falou
Brazil
When Gabriel Santos, Vitor Marques and Matheus Medina held meetings in English, they noticed that conversation could be difficult for those who had studied the language in school but did not have much practical speaking experience. . They created Falou to help people get conversational faster by browsing through immersive travel simulations.

“Gamma Fighter”
United States
An homage to 80s-style games like “Space Invaders” and “Galaga,”Gamma Fighter” is a retro style arcade game created by solo developer Jorge Briones. Although creating games was a passion project that Briones first took up as a hobby, he now blogs about his “coding adventures”, hoping to inspire others to learn to code.

Memory
Brazil
Apple Developer Academy students Ana Bittencourt Vidigal, Djenifer Renata Pereira and Gustavo Kumasawa want to evoke memories associated with digital photos like old printed photo albums do. During camp, they’ll work on Memoria, a shareable digital photo album that anchors photos to objects or the environment, to help spark memories associated with photos so they don’t get “lost” or forgotten on camera roll. from your iPhone.

Sinq: your fitness companion
Portugal
Health and wellness have always been important passions for Apple Developer Academy alumni Matheus Fogiatto, Rodrigo Giglio and Daniela Aires dos Reis. They saw an opportunity in the market for Fivean app that uses a customizable dinosaur character to act as a motivational fitness companion, and now they’re working to launch more group activities and challenges.

tripify
Brazil
When founder Alexandre Morgado couldn’t find what he needed in a travel app, he started designing his own. With the help of fellow developer Thiago Imolesi, the team built tripify as a holistic travel app with features to plan trips, manage expenses, record memories, and record places visited.

Awakening !
Guatemala/USA
Awakening ! is a “movement therapy” app designed to get users up from the couch or office chair with brief movement sessions throughout the day, regardless of their environment. Already a huge hit on the App Store, Wakeout! received an App Store Award in 2020. Since then, teammates Andres Canella, Pedro Wunderlich and Dmitry Ivanov have added thousands of exercises to the platform and even created a separate, but similar, offering for kids.

Yoga Wake Up
United States
Founders Lizzie and Joaquín Brown first came up with the idea of Yoga Wake Up during a yoga class. Aiming to create a tool for beginners and people with chronic health conditions who are looking for an accessible way to incorporate yoga into their routine, the app encourages friendly interactions between instructors and the community, and now features more than 365 audio sessions in bed.

Press contacts

Katie Clark Alsadder

Apple

[email protected]

(408) 974-9976

Cathy Park

Apple

[email protected]

(669) 227-6074

Apple Media Phone Support

[email protected]

(408) 974-2042