Featured Project · Jul 2022 – Mar 2025
Kuddly — Find and adopt a pet near you.
A cross-platform mobile app that connects people with pets available for adoption in their local area. Built entirely from scratch as Co-Founder and Lead Software Engineer.
Role
Co-Founder & Lead Software Engineer
Timeline
Jul 2022 – Mar 2025
Tech Stack
Status
01 — Overview
The Problem
Pet adoption in Greece was scattered across Facebook posts, word of mouth, and outdated listings. There was no dedicated mobile-first platform making it easy for people to discover, browse, and connect with pets available for adoption nearby.
02 — Approach
How I built it
A methodical, phase-by-phase breakdown of the process from zero to launch.
Team & Product Vision
Led recruitment of a high-performing team and established a clear product vision. Defined the core adoption flow — discovery, pet profiles, and owner/shelter contact — as the foundation everything else would build on.
Database & Backend
Designed and implemented the full relational database schema in MySQL to support pet listings, user profiles, and location-based queries. Built all backend services in Java and Spring Boot with clean architecture and long-term maintainability in mind.
Cloud Infrastructure
Configured and managed the full cloud infrastructure on Digital Ocean — from server provisioning to deployment pipelines — ensuring a stable, secure, and cost-efficient production environment.
Mobile Frontend
Contributed to the React Native / TypeScript frontend to deliver a cohesive experience — location-aware pet browsing, profiles, and contact flows — bridging backend logic with an intuitive user interface.
03 — Features
What we shipped
Find a Pet Near You
Browse available pets by location — no more scrolling through irrelevant Facebook posts or outdated shelter websites. Everything nearby, in one place.
Rich Pet Profiles
Each pet has a full profile with photos, breed, age, and personality traits — giving adopters everything they need to make the right match before reaching out.
Direct Contact with Shelters & Owners
Connect directly with the shelter or owner listing the pet — no middlemen, no delays, just a simple path from discovery to adoption.
Available on iOS & Android
A native mobile experience on both platforms, designed to feel fast and intuitive for people who just want to find their next companion.
04 — Screenshots
See it in action
05 — Impact
Results that speak
06 — Learnings
What I learned
Honest reflections — the things I would tell myself at the start of this project.
Architecture decisions made early compound over years. The database schema and service boundaries defined in week one shaped every feature built over the next two and a half years.
Leading people is a different skill than building things. It requires recruiting, aligning, and enabling — and knowing when not to push. Trying to enforce your vision at every turn creates friction. Sometimes the right move is to let go.
Managing infra from scratch teaches you to appreciate managed services. Setting up Digital Ocean manually made it clear how much time and mental energy the right abstractions can save.
Personal drive alone is not enough to sustain a product. The team disbanded because we never defined a revenue model — and without one, motivation eventually ran out. A project built to last needs more than passion to keep it alive.