Startup for 10: AppLaunch

Meet AppLaunch in our regular series Startup for 10. The software development company is based in Bristol and specialises in mobile app development. Founded in 2020, with a team of 5, AppLaunch works with a multitude of sectors from engineering to food delivery to fantasy sports.

Here to answer our 10 questions is founder Oliver Edis:

 

1 – In your own words – what does AppLaunch do?

AppLaunch is a software development company, focused on mobile app development. We work with startups as well as larger businesses that have apps that they want to get built. We build everything from front-end interface to user experience – we’ll see to all of the things going on behind the scenes.

2 – What’s the most exciting thing about what you’re doing?

I think it’s getting to see all the things that other people are doing and getting to see it before everyone else does. We work with a lot of startups, so getting to see the things that are coming out that product people are working on, getting access to all of that, ahead of everyone else, and actually getting to be a part of building that without being tied down to one product is quite cool.

3 – What are you most proud of so far?

It’s probably quite cliche, but surviving the pandemic. You know, at March time the entire pipeline, and just everything, got wiped out. And so we went back to zero and had to start again, but managed to come through it and grow the team, grow the business. So we survived and we came out better than when we went in, which was great. I’m just really proud of everyone for coming together and getting through it.

4 – What have you found most difficult about setting up AppLaunch?

Lots of things. I think building a good team was really hard. We made some really bad hires early on which impacted us later down the line. Finding the right people was harder because of COVID since you couldn’t go to stuff and meet people, so we had to do everything online. And also, just dealing with a pandemic was obviously challenging, but we managed to come through it.

5 – What would you do differently if you started now?

I think it’s easy to say, I wouldn’t hire that person, I wouldn’t do this, I wouldn’t make that decision. But at the same time those decisions meant I learned a lot very quickly, albeit very painfully. And I think a bit of baptism by fire doesn’t do any harm, per se. So I think, on the one hand, I would do most things differently, but equally, I think those mistakes were probably worth it in the end.

6 – Where do you think AppLaunch will be in 12 months?

That’s hard to say. There’s things we’re working on right now that should be released in around nine months time. So 12 months, hopefully, all those things will be released! There’ll be lots of new cool stuff out there that we’ve got to work on. And I think off the back of that, hopefully, we’ll be able to grow the team and get our heads down working on some new exciting projects.

7 – What tools/people/services/organisations from the cluster have helped you most?

There’s been a really good network of people in the same boat when the pandemic hit and everyone’s been offering huge amounts of support and advice to one another. We’ve had quite a few referrals through that network. We wanted to be able to find people who have the skills that we don’t have in-house, but we might need just for a one-off, and the network has provided us with that. So it’s been a really good, strong network that we can rely on.

8 – What’s the best thing about the Bristol & Bath tech cluster?

So we’ve not really engaged with the cluster that much because we started in January 2020. So with the pandemic hitting, we’ve been quite isolated in our own little bubble, and kind of just existing and operating away from everything else.

Now we’ve got the space here at Boxworks in the heart of everything, I’m really looking forward to actually engaging with what’s going on a lot better. I’m just excited to be a part of it now.

9 – Who will you be nominating for a SPARKie next year?

Either Ash Phillips or Dffnt. Ash has been very helpful, he’s passed out quite a few referrals to us and been advising us on some things too.

10 – Where can we find out more about you?

Our website here – there are links to everything we do there!