# Luis Garrido

> Luis Hernandez Garrido is the co-founder and CEO of Uptodown, the world's largest alternative app store, which he launched in 2002 as a university project in Malaga, Spain. Over two decades he has grown it into a platform with 130 million monthly active users and 450 million APK downloads per month - all without a single outside investor. Now based in Berkeley, California, he champions open internet principles, device neutrality, and democratized software distribution, and is an active voice in the Coalition for App Fairness pushing back against Google and Apple's app store dominance.

- **Role:** CEO at Uptodown
- **Organizations:** Uptodown, Coalition for App Fairness
- **Nationality:** Spanish
- **Education:** Computer Engineering, University of Malaga, Certificate in Sustainable Product Design and the Innovation Ecosystem in Engineering, Harvard Extension School
- **Known for:** Co-built Uptodown into the world's largest alternative app store with 130 million monthly active users, Sustained 24 years of growth without a single external investor, Grew to 450 million APK downloads per month

## Career timeline

- **2002** — Co-founded Uptodown with Jose Dominguez Fernandez as a university project at University of Malaga
- **2011** — Pivoted Uptodown heavily toward Android as mobile became the dominant platform
- **2014** — Completed Sustainable Product Design certification at Harvard Extension School
- **2016** — Uptodown surpassed 100 million monthly users
- **2017** — Uptodown ranked among the world's top 100 websites
- **2022** — Sponsored Gamepolis and Indie Games Malaga gala; renovated Malaga HQ
- **2023** — Uptodown earned Great Place to Work certification in Spain; Luis advocated for DMA implementation
- **2024** — Launched Uptodown Turbo premium subscription; joined Coalition for App Fairness
- **2025** — Launched Windows client and new social community features; 8M+ MAU on native Android app

## Achievements

- Co-built Uptodown into the world's largest alternative app store with 130 million monthly active users
- Sustained 24 years of growth without a single external investor
- Grew to 450 million APK downloads per month
- Built a catalog of 3.8 million+ apps
- Achieved Great Place to Work certification in Spain (2023-2024) with 100% employee satisfaction
- Active member of the Coalition for App Fairness advocating against Google and Apple monopolies
- Expanded Uptodown to 15+ languages serving users on every continent

## Latest updates

- **2025-02** — Uptodown published its report on most downloaded apps of 2025
- **2025-01** — Launched new social community features including user profiles and app list sharing
- **2024-10** — Uptodown launched its Windows client for desktop software distribution
- **2024-10** — Launched Uptodown Turbo, a premium subscription service
- **2024-03** — Uptodown joined Coalition for App Fairness ahead of EU Digital Markets Act enforcement

## Links

- Website: https://uptodown.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/luishgcom
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/Uptodown
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Uptodown

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/luis-garrido
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-16