New app builds
Your app, from first idea to the App Store.
Founded Labs designs and ships your iOS and Android app with React Native and Expo, on the same foundations as open-source tools downloaded 2.6 million times a week. Senior-led, fixed scope, weekly builds on your phone, and a launch handled end to end.
- Typical timeline
- 8 to 40+ weeks
- Starting at
- $32k USD
- Output
- A shipped app
01Who this is for
For products that deserve to feel premium.
- 01
Founders and product leaders with a validated idea who want one accountable partner for the whole app: design, engineering, and launch.
- 02
Companies whose product deserves better than a template: native-feel interactions, haptics, and the polish users associate with the best apps on their phone.
- 03
Teams that tried agencies or marketplaces and got handoffs, junior rotations, and an app that feels like a web page in a wrapper.
02The process
Four steps from idea to launch.
- 011-2 weeks
Discover
We define the product together: the core flows, what ships in version one, and what deliberately waits. You get a written scope, a flow map, and a fixed plan before any code.
- 022-12 weeks
Design
Interface design in code, on a real design system from day one. You review working screens on your own phone, not static mockups, so every decision is made against the real thing.
- 034-26+ weeks
Build
Senior engineering on React Native and Expo. A new TestFlight build lands on your phone every week, so progress is something you hold, not a status report.
- 041-2 weeks
Launch
App Store and Google Play submission handled end to end: store assets, review process, analytics, crash reporting, and a release process your team can run on their own.
03What's included
Everything your launch needs.
- Native-feel interactions: haptics, gestures, and 60fps animation as defaults, not extras.
- A design system foundation built on the same open-source tools used by millions of React Native developers.
- iOS and Android from one codebase, with platform-correct details on each.
- Weekly TestFlight / internal builds from the first weeks of the engagement.
- App Store and Google Play submission, including store assets and review handling.
- Analytics, crash reporting, and over-the-air update setup before launch.
- A documented, handoff-ready codebase your future hires will be glad to inherit.
04How we work
Senior-led, fully accountable.
What you provide
- A decision-maker who can review weekly builds and make product calls quickly.
- The product idea, target users, and any existing brand or design direction.
- Apple Developer and Google Play accounts (or a green light to set them up).
- Access to any existing backend or APIs, when the app is not greenfield on the server side.
Engagement shape
- The senior lead you talk to stays accountable from kickoff to launch.
- Fixed scope and fixed price agreed before the build starts. Change is negotiated, not absorbed.
- One build at a time gets the focus; availability is limited by design.
- Async-first communication with a weekly build and a short written update.
05FAQ
Common questions before a build.
You ship one codebase to both stores without giving up native quality. Founded Labs builds the open-source component libraries much of the React Native ecosystem relies on. Apps built on that foundation use real native primitives, haptics, and platform conventions, which is why users cannot tell the difference.
Builds start at $32k USD. The exact price is fixed during the discovery phase, once the version-one scope is written down. If your budget is meaningfully below that, a smaller scoped engagement is usually the better starting point.
Most builds go from kickoff to App Store submission in 8 to 40+ weeks. The discovery phase exists precisely to cut version one down to what actually needs to ship first. The fastest launches come from the most disciplined scopes.
A senior lead owns your build from first scope to launch and stays your point of contact throughout. Founded Labs takes on one build at a time, and brings in trusted specialists, in design or engineering, only when a piece of scope clearly benefits. You are never handed off to a junior.
You own the codebase, the accounts, and the release process, all documented. Many clients continue with a smaller retainer for iteration, but nothing is designed to lock you in.
Both. Design happens in code against a real design system, so what you approve is what ships. If you already have a designer or brand direction, the build works from that instead.
Next step
Bring the idea. Leave with a plan, a price, and a launch date.
04Get in touch
Tell me what you want to build.
A few details about your product and where it’s headed. I read and answer every message myself.
