Tag Archives: Game Development

#WeArePlay | Meet Tessa and Saasha from the UK, founders of waste-fighting app Olio

Posted by Leticia Lago, Developer Marketing In our latest #WeArePlay film, we’re spotlighting Tessa and Saasha - best friends turned co-founders of Olio. They’ve been on a mission to help people reduce waste by encouraging communities to share, sell or give-away what they no longer need - from leftover food to household items. The app now helps millions take one big step closer to living in a zero waste world.

Growing up on a farm, Tessa quickly learned how much hard work goes into producing food. Meanwhile, Saasha spent her childhood helping her family make ends meet through scavenging items that others threw away. When they eventually met in college, they bonded over their passion to help to save the environment through recycling and reducing waste.

But it wasn’t until Tessa was one day moving countries when the idea for Olio came - she couldn’t pack leftover food in air-freight, and couldn’t easily find anyone to take it. Feeling like this was a missed opportunity, she told Saasha about the idea for a food-sharing app. Saasha instantly knew she wanted to help make this app a reality, and so Olio was born. Tessa believes that “if no one else is taking action then we have to take action”.

Originally developed to encourage people to give away their surplus food, over time Olio has evolved so that people can give away any items that could have a second life. It’s now used in 62 countries, and Olio also partners with supermarkets and restaurants with the help of Food Waste Heroes - volunteers who collect and redistribute surplus food – saving an estimated 1 million meals per week. Looking to the future, Saasha says their ambition is “to create a world in which sharing becomes the new normal”.

You can read more inspiring stories, including those featuring LGTBQ+ apps celebrating Pride Month, at g.co/play/weareplay.

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#WeArePlay | Meet Tessa and Saasha from the UK, founders of waste-fighting app Olio

Posted by Leticia Lago, Developer Marketing In our latest #WeArePlay film, we’re spotlighting Tessa and Saasha - best friends turned co-founders of Olio. They’ve been on a mission to help people reduce waste by encouraging communities to share, sell or give-away what they no longer need - from leftover food to household items. The app now helps millions take one big step closer to living in a zero waste world.

Growing up on a farm, Tessa quickly learned how much hard work goes into producing food. Meanwhile, Saasha spent her childhood helping her family make ends meet through scavenging items that others threw away. When they eventually met in college, they bonded over their passion to help to save the environment through recycling and reducing waste.

But it wasn’t until Tessa was one day moving countries when the idea for Olio came - she couldn’t pack leftover food in air-freight, and couldn’t easily find anyone to take it. Feeling like this was a missed opportunity, she told Saasha about the idea for a food-sharing app. Saasha instantly knew she wanted to help make this app a reality, and so Olio was born. Tessa believes that “if no one else is taking action then we have to take action”.

Originally developed to encourage people to give away their surplus food, over time Olio has evolved so that people can give away any items that could have a second life. It’s now used in 62 countries, and Olio also partners with supermarkets and restaurants with the help of Food Waste Heroes - volunteers who collect and redistribute surplus food – saving an estimated 1 million meals per week. Looking to the future, Saasha says their ambition is “to create a world in which sharing becomes the new normal”.

You can read more inspiring stories, including those featuring LGTBQ+ apps celebrating Pride Month, at g.co/play/weareplay.

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#WeArePlay | Meet Maria, AnnMaria and Dennis from the USA. More stories from around the world

Posted by Leticia Lago, Developer Marketing

From underserved communities needing more support with kids' education, to struggling to preserve the memories of passed loved ones. In our latest release of #WeArePlay stories, we’re celebrating the inspiring founders who identified problems around them and made apps or games to solve them.


Starting with Maria, Annmaria and Dennis from Minnesota, USA - founders of 7 Generation Games. Growing up as a Latina in rural North Dakota, Maria wanted to build something inspired by her experiences and help support the education gap in underserved communities. She teamed up with her mom AnnMaria, a teacher and computer programmer, and software developer Dennis, to set up 7 Generation Games. They make educational games – in English, Spanish and indigenous languages – to improve math skills of Hispanic and Native American children. Making Camp Ojibwe is a village-building simulation where players earn points by answering math and social studies questions. Now with multiple titles, their games are proven to improve children’s school results.


#WeArePlay David, Arman & Hayk ZOOMERANG Yerevan, Armenia, Google Play
Next, David, Arman & Hayk from Armenia - founders of Zoomerang. After uploading his music online, David got limited views because his video editing wasn’t engaging. It was his passion for music that led him to start Zoomerang with co-founders Arman and Hayk. They created a platform where content creators could get editing templates for their videos, allowing thousands to grow their brand and vivify their content.


#WeArePlay Rama LITTLE THINKING MINDS Amman, Jordan, Google Play
Next, Rama from Jordan - founder of Little Thinking Minds. When she and her friend and co-founder Lamia had their first boys, they struggled to find resources to teach their children Arabic. So, they utilized their background in film production and started making children’s videos in Arabic in their backyards. When they held a screening at a local cinema, over 500 parents and children came to watch it, and they had to screen it multiple times. A few years later and the content is now digitized in a series of apps used in schools of 10 countries. The most popular, I Read Arabic, has educational videos, books, games, and a dashboard for teachers to track students' progress.


#WeArePlay Prakash FORKEEPS Cape Town, South Africa, Google Play
Last but not least, Prakash from South Africa - founder of ForKeeps. When Prakash’s sister passed away, his nieces longed to hear her voice again and keep her memory alive. When his father died, he felt the same and regretted not having all his photos and messages in one place. This inspired Prakash and his co-founders to create ForKeeps: a platform for preserving a person’s legacy with photo albums, stories, and voice messages. Through the app, people can feel their loved one’s presence after they're gone. The Forever Album tool also allows the audience to share and celebrate special occasions in real time. Now Prakash’s goal is to help more people across different cultures around the world record memories for their loved ones.


Check out their stories now at g.co/play/weareplay and keep an eye out for more stories coming soon.


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#WeArePlay | Meet Maria, AnnMaria and Dennis from the USA. More stories from around the world

Posted by Leticia Lago, Developer Marketing

From underserved communities needing more support with kids' education, to struggling to preserve the memories of passed loved ones. In our latest release of #WeArePlay stories, we’re celebrating the inspiring founders who identified problems around them and made apps or games to solve them.


Starting with Maria, Annmaria and Dennis from Minnesota, USA - founders of 7 Generation Games. Growing up as a Latina in rural North Dakota, Maria wanted to build something inspired by her experiences and help support the education gap in underserved communities. She teamed up with her mom AnnMaria, a teacher and computer programmer, and software developer Dennis, to set up 7 Generation Games. They make educational games – in English, Spanish and indigenous languages – to improve math skills of Hispanic and Native American children. Making Camp Ojibwe is a village-building simulation where players earn points by answering math and social studies questions. Now with multiple titles, their games are proven to improve children’s school results.


#WeArePlay David, Arman & Hayk ZOOMERANG Yerevan, Armenia, Google Play
Next, David, Arman & Hayk from Armenia - founders of Zoomerang. After uploading his music online, David got limited views because his video editing wasn’t engaging. It was his passion for music that led him to start Zoomerang with co-founders Arman and Hayk. They created a platform where content creators could get editing templates for their videos, allowing thousands to grow their brand and vivify their content.


#WeArePlay Rama LITTLE THINKING MINDS Amman, Jordan, Google Play
Next, Rama from Jordan - founder of Little Thinking Minds. When she and her friend and co-founder Lamia had their first boys, they struggled to find resources to teach their children Arabic. So, they utilized their background in film production and started making children’s videos in Arabic in their backyards. When they held a screening at a local cinema, over 500 parents and children came to watch it, and they had to screen it multiple times. A few years later and the content is now digitized in a series of apps used in schools of 10 countries. The most popular, I Read Arabic, has educational videos, books, games, and a dashboard for teachers to track students' progress.


#WeArePlay Prakash FORKEEPS Cape Town, South Africa, Google Play
Last but not least, Prakash from South Africa - founder of ForKeeps. When Prakash’s sister passed away, his nieces longed to hear her voice again and keep her memory alive. When his father died, he felt the same and regretted not having all his photos and messages in one place. This inspired Prakash and his co-founders to create ForKeeps: a platform for preserving a person’s legacy with photo albums, stories, and voice messages. Through the app, people can feel their loved one’s presence after they're gone. The Forever Album tool also allows the audience to share and celebrate special occasions in real time. Now Prakash’s goal is to help more people across different cultures around the world record memories for their loved ones.

Check out their stories now at g.co/play/weareplay and keep an eye out for more stories coming soon.


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Launching new #WeArePlay stories from India

Posted by Parul Tyagi, Developer Marketing

Every month, over 2.5 billion people visit Google Play to discover millions of apps and games, which are created by people with all sorts of backgrounds, who founded companies big and small.

#WeArePlay celebrates this community of people building apps and games businesses, with monthly spotlights of founders from across the world.

Last summer we went on a virtual tour of the USA, sharing stories from every state, and today we’re continuing our tour across the world with our next stop: India.

To kick us off, we are spotlighting 20 stories from across the country, with many more coming throughout the year.

Moving text reads #WeArePlay INDIA Discover now g.co/play/weareplay-india Google Play

First, we begin with Pramit from Gurugram, Haryana. He was climbing the corporate ladder when medication he was taking damaged his retina, therefore losing his vision. No longer able to read, he required help from friends and family to perform daily tasks. One day, when a friend was booking a driver for him, Pramit got the idea to create a tool that could function exactly like a virtual friend through voice-activated commands. Using his app Louie Voice Control, people can operate other apps using their voice, making technology infinitely more accessible for the visually impaired.

#WeArePlay Pramit Visioapps Technology Gurugram, Haryana g.co/play/weareplay-india Google Play

Next, meet Sourav and Gunjan from Kolkata, West Bengal. When Sourav and Gunjan had their son, they noticed how fascinated he was watching videos on their phones. This gave Gunjan the idea to provide meaningful screen time for him by making educational games for young children. Fast forward to today and they have 42 apps, including Yoga for Kids where youngsters follow along with simple yoga poses and unlock animated pets as rewards.

#WeArePlay Sourav & Gunjan Gunjanapps Studios Kolkata, West Bengal g.co/play/weareplay-india Google Play

Now onto Tejas from Rajkot, Gurajat. He was always determined to go his own way in life and pursue programming, rather than his family's construction business. After discovering how popular cooking games are, his company TheAppGuruz makes versions catered specifically for Asian audiences - with some full of Indian dishes and specialties. Now, Tejas and his team are developing more cooking simulation titles, as well as traditional board games for a global audience.

#WeArePlay Tejas TheAppGuruz Rajkot, Gujarat g.co/play/weareplay-india Google Play

And last but not least, Anshul and Rohan from Mumbai, Maharashtra. After bonding over their experiences in overcoming mental health struggles, they discovered they had the same goal: to create something in the mental wellness space. So they built Evolve - an app with guided meditations, breathing exercises and daily affirmations. During the pandemic, the pair realized the LGBTQ+ community was one of the most underserved in mental health support, so they adapted Evolve to meet their needs.

#WeArePlay Rohan &Anshul Evolve Mumbai, Maharashtra g.co/play/weareplay-india Google Play

Check out all the stories now at g.co/play/weareplay-india and stay tuned for even more coming soon.


How useful did you find this blog post?

Launching new #WeArePlay stories from India

Posted by Parul Tyagi, Developer Marketing

Every month, over 2.5 billion people visit Google Play to discover millions of apps and games, which are created by people with all sorts of backgrounds, who founded companies big and small.

#WeArePlay celebrates this community of people building apps and games businesses, with monthly spotlights of founders from across the world.

Last summer we went on a virtual tour of the USA, sharing stories from every state, and today we’re continuing our tour across the world with our next stop: India.

To kick us off, we are spotlighting 20 stories from across the country, with many more coming throughout the year.

Moving text reads #WeArePlay INDIA Discover now g.co/play/weareplay-india Google Play

First, we begin with Pramit from Gurugram, Haryana. He was climbing the corporate ladder when medication he was taking damaged his retina, therefore losing his vision. No longer able to read, he required help from friends and family to perform daily tasks. One day, when a friend was booking a driver for him, Pramit got the idea to create a tool that could function exactly like a virtual friend through voice-activated commands. Using his app Louie Voice Control, people can operate other apps using their voice, making technology infinitely more accessible for the visually impaired.

#WeArePlay Pramit Visioapps Technology Gurugram, Haryana g.co/play/weareplay-india Google Play

Next, meet Sourav and Gunjan from Kolkata, West Bengal. When Sourav and Gunjan had their son, they noticed how fascinated he was watching videos on their phones. This gave Gunjan the idea to provide meaningful screen time for him by making educational games for young children. Fast forward to today and they have 42 apps, including Yoga for Kids where youngsters follow along with simple yoga poses and unlock animated pets as rewards.

#WeArePlay Sourav & Gunjan Gunjanapps Studios Kolkata, West Bengal g.co/play/weareplay-india Google Play

Now onto Tejas from Rajkot, Gurajat. He was always determined to go his own way in life and pursue programming, rather than his family's construction business. After discovering how popular cooking games are, his company TheAppGuruz makes versions catered specifically for Asian audiences - with some full of Indian dishes and specialties. Now, Tejas and his team are developing more cooking simulation titles, as well as traditional board games for a global audience.

#WeArePlay Tejas TheAppGuruz Rajkot, Gujarat g.co/play/weareplay-india Google Play

And last but not least, Anshul and Rohan from Mumbai, Maharashtra. After bonding over their experiences in overcoming mental health struggles, they discovered they had the same goal: to create something in the mental wellness space. So they built Evolve - an app with guided meditations, breathing exercises and daily affirmations. During the pandemic, the pair realized the LGBTQ+ community was one of the most underserved in mental health support, so they adapted Evolve to meet their needs.

#WeArePlay Rohan &Anshul Evolve Mumbai, Maharashtra g.co/play/weareplay-india Google Play

Check out all the stories now at g.co/play/weareplay-india and stay tuned for even more coming soon.


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#WeArePlay | Meet Ania from Canada. More stories from USA, Australia and Montenegro

Posted by Leticia Lago, Developer Marketing

This International Women’s Day, we’re dedicating our latest #WeArePlay stories to the inspirational women founders creating apps and games businesses on Google Play. Like Ania from Victoria in Canada, who is making mental health support more accessible worldwide.

When Ania was a student, she started experiencing debilitating panic attacks. Realizing there wasn’t much help readily available on mobile, she took it upon herself to do her own research and learn how to manage her anxiety. After feeling more confident again, she wanted to share what she had learned and help people, so began developing Rootd.

The app provides in-the-moment relief: with lessons to understand panic attacks, breathing exercises, and ways to make short-term and long-term changes to reduce anxiety. She is growing the app’s reach by expanding to different countries, with the hope it will eventually become one of the most widely used tools to overcome panic attacks in the world.

Celebrating more women founders

Alongside Ania, there are many other women founders doing incredible work in the apps and games space: like Bria from USA - founder of Honey B Games and creator of bubble tea game Boba Story, Lauren and Christina from Australia - co-founders of Lumi Interactive and their wellbeing app Kinder World: Cozy Plants, and Jelena from Montenegro - CEO of games studio 3Hills.

Check out their stories now at g.co/play/weareplay.


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#WeArePlay | Meet Ania from Canada. More stories from USA, Australia and Montenegro

Posted by Leticia Lago, Developer Marketing

This International Women’s Day, we’re dedicating our latest #WeArePlay stories to the inspirational women founders creating apps and games businesses on Google Play. Like Ania from Victoria in Canada, who is making mental health support more accessible worldwide.

When Ania was a student, she started experiencing debilitating panic attacks. Realizing there wasn’t much help readily available on mobile, she took it upon herself to do her own research and learn how to manage her anxiety. After feeling more confident again, she wanted to share what she had learned and help people, so began developing Rootd.

The app provides in-the-moment relief: with lessons to understand panic attacks, breathing exercises, and ways to make short-term and long-term changes to reduce anxiety. She is growing the app’s reach by expanding to different countries, with the hope it will eventually become one of the most widely used tools to overcome panic attacks in the world.

Celebrating more women founders

Alongside Ania, there are many other women founders doing incredible work in the apps and games space: like Bria from USA - founder of Honey B Games and creator of bubble tea game Boba Story, Lauren and Christina from Australia - co-founders of Lumi Interactive and their wellbeing app Kinder World: Cozy Plants, and Jelena from Montenegro - CEO of games studio 3Hills.

Check out their stories now at g.co/play/weareplay.


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#WeArePlay | Meet Valentin from Austria. More stories from Spain, Argentina and Azerbaijan

Posted by Leticia Lago, Developer Marketing

In our first batch of #WeArePlay stories for 2023, discover the inspiring app founders sharing their knowledge with millions around the world: from cooking up the best recipes, learning better ways to stay healthy, finding the best spots for photography or sharing tips to nail that next exam.

First, we begin with Valentin from Austria. With hotelier and restaurateur parents, Valentin grew up learning about the challenges of the hospitality sector. As he was a better programmer than a cook, he decided to not join the industry. But at 22 - whilst successfully working abroad - he felt his life was lacking purpose. Valentin went back to his hometown and, after hearing his parents had troubles with hiring, created a hospitality recruitment app with co-founders Tobias and Juan. When Covid hit however, Gronda transformed into a platform for chefs to share and monetize their recipes, inspiring other culinary lovers. Next, Gronda wants to help ambitious chefs worldwide unleash their full potential.
      

Next, a few more stories from around the world:

  • Clara runs a longevity clinic in rural Valencia where people learn to live a longer, healthier life. It’s powerful knowledge and she knew it could go far beyond her little village, so with husband Juan and his university friend David, they created their company Hearts Radiant. Their app, Rosita, gives seniors long term physical and mental health plans, some spanning ten years or more.

#WeArePlay Juan Clara & David Rosita Longevity Cofrentes, Spain Google Play

  • When Noel from Argentina was traveling the world, he discovered he’d missed a beautiful viewing point in Italy. This gave him the idea for NoFilter - an app compiling the best photography spots around the world. Next, Noel wants to launch more features for customized trip planning and offer travelers options to go carbon neutral.

      #WeArePlay Noel Broda Noel Cordoba, Argentina Google Play

    • After a series of hackathons and coding all-nighters, top students Amiraslan and Orkhan launched Oxuyan (“scholar” in Azerbaijani), a platform for publishing exams and testing knowledge. Education had been a ticket to so much opportunity for Amiraslan, including studying abroad and traveling Europe, so his motivation was to make learning accessible to everyone.


    #WeArePlay Amiraslan & Orkhan Oxuyan Baku, Azerbaijan Google Play

    Check out all the stories now at g.co/play/weareplay and stay tuned for even more coming soon.


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    #WeArePlay | Meet Valentin from Austria. More stories from Spain, Argentina and Azerbaijan

    Posted by Leticia Lago, Developer MarketingIn our first batch of #WeArePlay stories for 2023, discover the inspiring app founders sharing their knowledge with millions around the world: from cooking up the best recipes, learning better ways to stay healthy, finding the best spots for photography or sharing tips to nail that next exam.

    First, we begin with Valentin from Austria. With hotelier and restaurateur parents, Valentin grew up learning about the challenges of the hospitality sector. As he was a better programmer than a cook, he decided to not join the industry. But at 22 - whilst successfully working abroad - he felt his life was lacking purpose. Valentin went back to his hometown and, after hearing his parents had troubles with hiring, created a hospitality recruitment app with co-founders Tobias and Juan. When Covid hit however, Gronda transformed into a platform for chefs to share and monetize their recipes, inspiring other culinary lovers. Next, Gronda wants to help ambitious chefs worldwide unleash their full potential.
    Next, a few more stories from around the world:
    • Clara runs a longevity clinic in rural Valencia where people learn to live a longer, healthier life. It’s powerful knowledge and she knew it could go far beyond her little village, so with husband Juan and his university friend David, they created their company Hearts Radiant. Their app, Rosita, gives seniors long term physical and mental health plans, some spanning ten years or more.
      #WeArePlay Juan Clara & David Rosita Longevity Cofrentes, Spain Google Play
    • When Noel from Argentina was traveling the world, he discovered he’d missed a beautiful viewing point in Italy. This gave him the idea for NoFilter - an app compiling the best photography spots around the world. Next, Noel wants to launch more features for customized trip planning and offer travelers options to go carbon neutral.
      #WeArePlay Noel Broda Noel Cordoba, Argentina Google Play
    • After a series of hackathons and coding all-nighters, top students Amiraslan and Orkhan launched Oxuyan (“scholar” in Azerbaijani), a platform for publishing exams and testing knowledge. Education had been a ticket to so much opportunity for Amiraslan, including studying abroad and traveling Europe, so his motivation was to make learning accessible to everyone.
      #WeArePlay Amiraslan & Orkhan Oxuyan Baku, Azerbaijan Google Play

      Check out all the stories now at g.co/play/weareplay and stay tuned for even more coming soon.


      How useful did you find this blog post?