App of the Year
The results are in for our FbStart Apps of the Year winners, an annual competition to recognize the most innovative apps in our global startup program. We received over 900 submissions from 87 countries, and I got the opportunity to check out a short list of these apps alongside a panel of judges from ActionSprout, General Catalyst, and Spotify. Winners were chosen based on their current and projected growth, the customer experience, the app's design, and the way the apps leveraged Facebook products to drive engagement. We are honored to award this year's winners with a combined $160,000 in prizes to help them continue to build and grow their products. Without further ado, below is the list of this year's FbStart Apps of the Year winners.
Global App of the Year: SoloLearn
US-based SoloLearn is a free app for people interested in learning the basics of software programming and coding. The app's approach is to educate members by combining personal accomplishment with community engagement, including game mechanics, dynamic peer-to-peer activity, and user generated content. SoloLearn members compete in head-to-head challenges, unlock hidden lessons, and contribute to peer learning. The SoloLearn app offers 12 free courses, including JavaScript, Swift, Python, C++, and HTML/CSS. Tens of thousands of new content pieces that are generated by the community every day, paired with community support, provide an infinitely fun learning experience for students in all levels of programming.
Social Good App of the Year: Golden
Golden helps people find volunteer opportunities based on the activities they prefer to do for fun rather than skills-based requirements. For example, history buffs can volunteer as a docent at a local historical museum, while digital natives can sign up to manage social media campaigns for nonprofit organizations. Developed in the United States, Golden supports nonprofit organizations and operators by providing high-value volunteers and operational analytics. Volunteer organizations can list private opportunities to affiliates whose members may have desired interests and skills. With a strong focus on high-school and university volunteer recruiting, Golden helps young adults discover the personal and societal benefits of volunteerism.
Asia-Pacific App of the Year: Maya
Women around the world use Maya to track their menstrual cycles, monitor related symptoms, set health reminders, track a pregnancy and connect with medical experts. Maya's supported women of reproductive age across the world with a mobile-first solution to monitor their health needs. Founded in India in 2014, Maya has over 7 million downloads across 190 countries worldwide. The app is available in 14 languages, boasts a 4.6 star rating based on more than 120,000 consumer app reviews on Google Play. Learn more about how Maya leveraged Facebook's developer tools to scale its business here.
Europe, Middle East and Africa App of the Year: Mondly
Based in Romania, Mondly is a language education app with more than 20 million downloads worldwide. Mondly is the first company to launch a VR experience for learning languages with speech recognition and chatbot technology. The app takes people on a journey where they learn a new language by using most of their senses to complete reading, writing, listening, speaking and visual exercises. In just minutes a consumer can start memorizing core words, form sentences, learn phrases and take part in conversations. These fun language lessons can improve a person's vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation like no other language learning app.
Latin America App of the Year: ReservaTurno
Most beauty salons in Latin America still rely on traditional booking methods like walk-ins and phone calls, making it a struggle to reach new customers. Based in Argentina, ReservaTurno solves this pain point for both salons and customers by being the first mobile app in Latin America for customers to book beauty appointments on-the-go. Customers can discover new services, connect with salon managers and book beauty services such as haircuts, manicures, pedicures, and more. On a monthly basis, ReservaTurno facilitates 35K bookings, providing salons with a platform to reach new customers and engage with their existing clients.
We are grateful for the opportunity to support the many inspiring startups that are changing the world. Thank you to all the companies that submitted their applications and raised the bar for the startup community.
