Uptodown is one of the world's largest independent, multi-platform app stores, founded in 2002 in Malaga, Spain. It distributes Android APKs (and historically Windows software) directly to users as an alternative to Google Play, offering older app versions, region-free access, and editorially curated listings. Bootstrapped and profitable on web advertising rather than venture capital, it serves well over a hundred million monthly users and hundreds of millions of downloads while championing software sovereignty and user choice.
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.