In our current technology-driven world, it’s not surprising to see enterprising young minds make a huge impact in the realm of app development. In fact, some have managed to amass considerable wealth while still in their youth. Social networking applications have taken center stage with a worldwide increase in mobile and iOS downloads contributing significantly to this growth. Here are 3 exceptional under-25 millionaire app developers who grabbed success by the horns and became inspirations for aspiring tech pioneers.
Nick D’Aloisio: The Analytical Mastermind
Born in November 1995, Nick D’Aloisio became an English computer programmer and internet entrepreneur at a very young age. At just 15 years old, he developed an iOS application called Trimmit. Essentially, Trimmit utilized an analytical tool that condensed large amounts of text content into more concise summaries of 1000, 500, or even 140 characters. Apple took notice of this groundbreaking app and featured it as a new noteworthy application on the App Store. The exposure garnered by Trimmit caught the eye of billionaire Li Ka-shing, who invested $300,000 in venture capital funding towards Nick’s project.
With the experience from Trimmit, Nick reworked the algorithms and launched a completely revamped version called Summly in December 2011. Nick holds the title of being the world’s youngest venture-capital-backed entrepreneur. Soon after the launch of Summly, Nick raised an impressive $1.23 million from various high-profile investors such as Rupert Murdoch, Ashton Kutcher, and Stephen Fry. Until October 2015, Nick led Yahoo News Digest operations, and the app went on to win an Apple Design Award for its technological and product excellence.
But not all millionaire who has build his wealth on app development have developed it themselves! So, if you are inspired by such a story and have no development skills, don’t let yourself be discouraged, just get help from some app developers agency to help you in your projects and reach your financial goals.
Brian Wong: The Mobile Rewards Expert
Brian Wong, another young millionaire app developer, founded a mobile app rewards platform called Kiip in partnership with his colleagues Courtney Guertin and Amadeus Demarzi. Kiip allows brands and companies to offer users real-world rewards for achieving milestones within games and other applications. It has since expanded into fitness apps and now operates across numerous devices with more than 1,100 active applications. By mid-2013, Kiip had raised more than $15 million in venture capital from firms like Hummer Winblad, Relay Ventures, True Ventures, CrossLink Capital, and many others.
Today, the company has formed strategic partnerships with over 40 top-tier global brands including Disney, Pepsi, Amazon.com, Victoria’s Secret, Playboy, Vitamin Water, and more. Kiip excels in helping brands run effective campaigns by focusing on “mobile advertising that people actually like.”
Chad Mureta: From Real Estate to App Development Empire
Before entering the world of app development, Chad Mureta worked as a real estate agent. A car accident landed him in the hospital, where he started exploring the potential of application development during his recovery. Chad took inspiration from popular apps at the time and tried to understand what made them successful. Just three months after coming up with the idea, he submitted his first app, Fingerprint Security Pro, to the App Store. Within a month, sales brought in over $12,000, effectively covering his initial investment.
Eventually, Chad launched his own company and developed additional apps, generating an average monthly cash flow of $120,000. Over the next two years, Chad went on to create and sell three app companies, accumulating millions in revenue. He now leads an enterprise whose products help entrepreneurs transform their app ideas into successful businesses.