Inspiration

Cafi was born from a personal need and a clear vision: to allow any entrepreneur, without technical knowledge or large budgets, to launch their own super app—whether for delivery, transportation, hospitality, a marketplace, or all-in-one—quickly, easily, and professionally.

It all started in a small town of 13,000 people. I, Carlos, without knowing what an app was, created my first ordering system using Excel macros. While others slept or went out to parties, I spent nights learning on YouTube how to turn ideas into functional software. That was my first big learning curve: if you want something different, you have to do things differently.

Over time, I worked on projects like Upps and Devy, where I faced obstacles such as limited platforms, expensive development, bad providers, and unethical suppliers. I lost time, money, and health. But I also gained experience. A lot.

After several failures, one morning I decided to start from scratch. Cafi was born, with the commitment that no entrepreneur would have to go through what I went through. That anyone could launch their digital business without programming, without depending on third parties that just want your money, and without paying a fortune for something that could be automated.

What it does

We built Cafi using modern technologies like Flutter, Firebase, AI, and Google Maps, allowing each app to automatically adapt to each city. A single system can be a taxi app in one city, a marketplace in another, and a super app in a third, all from a single dashboard and in less than 5 clicks.

Today, anyone can create their own complete ecosystem in less than an hour. Literally. With integrated AI, automations, marketing, driver assignments, real-time tracking, native apps, and more.

How we built it

I started with no team, no funding, and no technical background. I hired a developer through Fiverr (who is still with me today), and gradually added more people as I validated the model.

Cafi was built from the ground up with one mission: Empower entrepreneurs with a platform to launch their own super apps—without coding, without high upfront costs, and without wasting years of development.

Today, in just a few hours, a client can launch their own:

Delivery app (like UberEats or Rappi)

Taxi service (like Uber)

Booking app (like Airbnb)

WhatsApp ordering (We use Google Maps and AI to calculate delivery cost and location to make WhatsApp feel like a real app and place and track real orders from there)

Marketplace (like Amazon or Mercado Libre)

Or combine everything into a Super App

All of this, fully white-labeled with their own brand, website, digital menus, signage system, and AI-powered marketing tools.

Challenges we ran into

Lack of technical knowledge: I had to learn everything on the go.

Trust issues: I experienced betrayal from early partners and lost major clients.

Mental health: The stress from those losses pushed me to the limit.

Sustainability: I didn’t want to build another expensive SaaS tool. I wanted something that was truly accessible and fair.

That’s why Cafi doesn’t charge anything upfront. Our revenue model is transactional—if our clients sell, we earn a small fee. If they don’t sell, they pay absolutely nothing.

This keeps their risk at 0%, and ensures we grow only when they grow.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We’ve helped partners go from 0 orders to over 40,000+ orders per month using our platform.

We’ve successfully migrated businesses from outdated or non-scalable SaaS systems into Cafi, allowing them to operate in multiple cities and countries without friction.

Every partner who had to close down their business (due to personal reasons, not technical ones) has expressed gratitude — because even in those tough moments, our support never failed them.

We offer real-time support — not ticket systems that take days. Whether it’s a technical issue, a marketing question, or a new feature request, our team responds within minutes, because we know what it’s like to be left waiting with everything at stake.

Our commitment to service comes from experience — from the pain of being ignored, delayed, and left behind by other providers. With Cafi, you are never alone.

What we learned

I learned that:

A good idea means nothing without relentless execution.

Most small businesses don’t fail for lack of ambition, but because they lack the right technology, support, and scalability to compete in today’s market.

Personal sacrifice is inevitable when building something meaningful. But every failure, every betrayal, and every difficult moment becomes your most powerful lesson if you choose to keep going.

I also learned hard lessons that many entrepreneurs face silently:

Trusting the wrong partners can cost you everything. Some clients promise to grow with you, but once they get what they want, they disappear.

Relying on external SaaS providers that delay crucial updates or ignore your requests can paralyze your business, even when you’re paying high fees.

In the past, I faced delays of up to a week to get technical support tickets resolved. That’s unacceptable when every minute counts.

That’s why Cafi is built differently. We are deeply committed with support, innovation, and giving real power back to entrepreneurs.

What's next for Cafi

We want to become the #1 platform worldwide for entrepreneurs and small businesses who dream of launching their own digital service — whether it’s a taxi app, food delivery, marketplace, super app, or hospitality platform.

At Cafi, our vision is to empower local and global leaders by giving them an all-in-one ecosystem with:

  • Powerful automation
  • AI-driven tools
  • Seamless integrations
  • Real-time scalability
  • Exceptional human support

We believe anyone can build something great — regardless of background or capital — if they have the right tools, support, and a team that believes in their growth.

We’re expanding our marketplace features, integrating deeper AI personalization, and launching new ways for users to monetize with Cafi — all while continuing to build a community of creators, entrepreneurs, and visionaries.

Try it out yourself

You can download the Cafi user app for iOS or Android and explore a live demo: Demo Credentials

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