Alfonso Cobo (born 1992, Canary Islands, Spain[1]) is a Spanish businessman. He is best known as the founder of Unfold, which was acquired by Squarespace in 2019.[2]
Alfonso Cobo | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1992 Canary Islands, Spain |
| Nationality | Spanish |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Known for | Unfold |
Early life
editAlfonso was born in the Canary Islands, Spain and spent much of his childhood in Madrid before moving to the United Kingdom at 17.[3]
Career
editAs a university student, Cobo studied design and architecture.[4] After working as an architectural designer in London,[5] Cobo received a scholarship to Parsons School of Design and moved to New York.[3] Cobo has a master's degree in strategic design and management from Parsons School of Design and a bachelor's degree in architecture from the University of Brighton.[citation needed]
In 2017, Cobo recognized there was no software or app that could create a portfolio of his work on an iPad. Later that year, he launched his portfolio layout app, the first one to exist for iPad.[6]
Unfold
editCobo founded Unfold in 2018 and was later joined by Andy McCune as a co-founder.[6] Unfold, a mobile application that allows users to create Instagram Stories posts using a variety of templates and other tools.[4][7] It was used by such celebrities as Kim Kardashian, Camila Cabello, Olivia Culpo, Selena Gomez, Ashley Tisdale, Selena Gomez, Mariah Carey, the Jonas Brothers, and Miley Cyrus.[8][6][9][10] Unfold has also partnered with Equinox, Tommy Hilfiger, and Product Red.[8]
In 2019, Unfold was acquired by Squarespace. By then, it had 16 million users. In 2023, Unfold had over 60 million downloads, and over 1 billion stories were created using it.[10][1][11] Instagram featured Unfold as a recommended app to help users with their Stories ads.[6]
In 2020, Cobo launched Bio Sites with Squarespace, a tool that allows users to share relevant links.[12]
Cobo received a Gaingels award in 2023.[3] He also launched Hypelist, a social mobile application, in 2023.[13]
Personal life
editCobo currently lives in New York City.[5]
References
edit- ^ a b "This Gay Tech Founder Is Giving Back to the LGBTQ Community". www.advocate.com.
- ^ "How to Make Passive Income in the Creator Economy". Entrepreneur. March 28, 2022.
- ^ a b c "Alfonso Cobo - Gaingels". gaingels.com.
- ^ a b "Unfold". Forbes.
- ^ a b "Alfonso Cobo". May 25, 2019.
- ^ a b c d Im, Jimmy (October 3, 2018). "How these 20-somethings brought in over $1 million in a year with an Instagram-friendly app". CNBC.
- ^ Shaul, Brandy (February 27, 2019). "Unfold Partnered With Tommy Hilfiger to Launch Instagram Stories Templates". www.adweek.com.
- ^ a b Alfonso Cobo. Fast Company.
- ^ "Billboard Music Awards Pacts With Nascent Stories-Editing App 'Unfold'". April 26, 2019.
- ^ a b "Alfonso Cobo on Creating Social Media's Most Downloaded and Recognized Storytelling App, Unfold". BOND OFFICIAL | Modern Men. Modern Stories. December 26, 2019.
- ^ "Enhance Your Social Media Stories with Unfold". Squarespace.
- ^ Ha, Anthony (December 18, 2020). "Unfold launches lightweight, link-centric profiles called Bio Sites".
- ^ Rivera, Abraham (2023-12-27). "¿Por qué nos obsesionan las listas? Alfonso Cobo, el español que creó Unfold, lanza una 'app' para compartir recomendaciones". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-04-08.