Reflex, a startup that offers a low-code web app development platform based on Python, has announced a $5 million seed investment. The founders chose Python for their platform due to its immense popularity among developers.
Reflex, initially known as Pynecone, seeks to strike a balance between providing an easy-to-use platform for app development while allowing sufficient customization options. The co-founders, Nikhil Rao and Alek Petuskey, started with an open-source tool as a means to draw developers to their solution.
They plan to use the seed money to build a hosting service. After people have created their app, they can deploy it with a single command - 'Reflex deploy.' Reflex will then set up all their configurations on their servers, returning a URL with their live app.
Their goal is to make it simple for individuals with little to no web app development experience to quickly build and launch an app that can be used in production.
Since the release of the open-source framework in December, 5,000 developers have built 15,000 apps. Additionally, 61 external developers are contributing to the open-source project. They also have a Discord group with over 1,400 members.
The founders hope to generate revenue from the hosting part of the business, which they plan to get into beta in the coming months. They believe that their open-source approach will help them build a global, diverse workforce.
