TL; DR: AppFutura, headquartered in Spain, is a marketplace for buyers and sellers of software development and digital marketing services. The company creates its directories using a methodology that helps connect businesses with trusted outsourcing providers. By helping customers identify winning development companies, AppFutura is laying the foundation for streamlined digital transformations across the globe.
Businesses today face a troubling chasm between the essential nature of digital transformation and a tapped-out tech talent pool.
According to Deloitte, the implementation of digital technologies can help accelerate progress toward financial gains, workforce diversity, and sustainability objectives by 22%. At the same time, an ongoing global shortage of skilled workers has made hiring tech talent a challenging prospect.
Researchers project that 85 million jobs worldwide could go unfilled by 2030 due to scarcity of talent. If this shortage persists in the tech industry alone, the U.S. could lose $162 billion in annual revenue.
Still, by uncovering the right resources, business leaders can begin to close this gap. The AppFutura marketplace, for example, empowers users to connect with highly skilled mobile app developers, website-building teams, and digital marketing agencies, among other talent.
“I think that’s one of the main pros of AppFutura: We know the best app developers in the world, and we can help our customers find them,” said Àlex Aubets, Co-Founder and CTO of the company. “We make it look easy, but it’s a difficult puzzle to piece together. There are a lot of variables to consider, including project size, budget, and customer location. And the best developer for one company’s needs may not necessarily be the best one for another.”
AppFutura’s primary mission is to connect buyers and sellers in custom development and digital marketing via a uniquely constructed directory that helps buyers find the right partners. The site also serves as a lead-generation tool for the IT and marketing space.
Check Off Multiple Boxes in App and Site-Building
AppFutura, located in Spain’s Barcelona metropolitan area, got its start as a website featured at the 2012 Mobile World Congress. The annual trade show for the mobile communications industry is hosted by the Global System for Mobile Communications.
“In 2012, when we started working on the project, we detected increased demand in the new, expanding world of mobile apps,” Àlex said. “A lot of entrepreneurs and companies wanted to explore this space, but they didn’t know where to start.”
A handful of related marketplaces existed at the time, but most were freelancer-focused and concentrated on mobile app development and site-building only. “We wanted to go one step further,” Àlex said.
The marketplace, formalized as a company in 2014, initially served as a space where app development companies could bid on and win projects posted by users. Over time, the site evolved into a well-known industry directory of top app development companies.
By 2019, the AppFutura team noticed an influx of posts for project areas outside of app development, such as digital marketing and site-building. In response, the company expanded its listing categories, shifting its focus to a broader array of digital services.
Today, service providers in the directories are ranked using four main factors — performance, reliability, client reviews, and activity within the platform. AppFutura offers providers the opportunity to improve their rank by gathering verifiable reviews from former clients, showcasing their service offerings, and sharing expert content and resources.
Àlex said the app is far more multidisciplinary now than it was at its inception.
“Our biggest challenge was to create a product that solves all of our customers’ needs, including those centered on app development, desktop development, and marketing campaigns,” Àlex said. “Fortunately, we work with excellent app development companies, and most of them include all of these features in their portfolio.”
Connect with the World’s Best App Developers
When development on AppFutura started in 2012, Àlex said hunting down a proven app development company was no easy task. Today, with the help of AppFuture, software development, IT, and marketing firm discovery are easier than ever.
“In 2012, the industry was so new that it was nearly impossible to find a company you could trust with certainty would do a good job,” Àlex said. “In 2021, the opposite is true. We have a very large number of app development companies to choose from — so many that it’s impossible to go through them all one by one.”
Besides offering a vast number of companies from which to choose, AppFutura offers free educational resources via its blog. The company also features a list of apps developed through AppFutura and information on the development companies behind them.
Àlex said AppFutura team members developed significant expertise after years of experience in the field. This helps them identify the best IT and marketing outsourcing companies worldwide.
“We earn our customers’ trust on one hand through our knowledge, and on the other hand through our secure payment escrow platform,” Àlex said. “These benefits make our platform attractive to customers.”
Other benefits include time savings, reduced costs, and a streamlined discovery process.
“I think that we have many small benefits that make AppFutura interesting for both customers and developers,” Àlex said. “We believe that we offer a sophisticated yet easy-to-use tool that helps connect buyers and sellers.”
Prioritized Feature Development Spurred by Client Feedback
The AppFutura team has evolved its platform significantly over the past nine years, adding sponsorship opportunities, developer profiles based on area of expertise, and options sorted by geographical location.
Today, the site serves over 40,000 customers each month, who can browse through more than 8,000 company listings. Buyers have posted over 1,000 reviews.
Àlex told us that the team has fine-tuned the platform for nearly a decade based on feedback from the buyers and sellers who use it.
“We always try to listen to our customers and prioritize their needs,” Àlex said. “They are the ones who work with our platform, so they know the best ways to improve it.”
As a small team, the group behind AppFutura isn’t burdened by organizational bureaucracy, which can easily put a damper on new ideas and slow down development.
“Currently, we have a very stable platform in some ways, so the most pressing tasks on our to-do lists are improvements related to our customers’ suggestions,” Àlex said. “We simply try to prioritize those.”
The Goal: To Foster Digital Transformation Moving Forward
After working for years to refine its platform, the AppFutura team is primarily focused on facilitating interactive and productive partnerships between buyers and sellers.
“We’ve modified our working model extensively to get to the point where our platform is functioning quite well, so we don’t see the need to alter it at this point,” Àlex said. “We will continue centering our efforts on helping customers find the best development companies and helping development companies take on new and amazing project opportunities.”
The timing is right — app development has become exceedingly valuable during the COVID-19 crisis in facilitating remote connections. As Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said on an earnings call in April 2020, “As COVID-19 impacts every aspect of our work and life, we have seen two years’ worth of digital transformation in two months.”
The AppFutura team is prepared for the changes this new environment brings.
“These are interesting times in the app development world,” Àlex said. “Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses sped up digital transformation, a lot of new needs surfaced, and new solutions were introduced to the market. I think this is only the start, and with the help of more advanced and powerful technologies, we can face the coming years with hope.”
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