Meet the Brilliant Women Behind Your Favorite Apps

Founder: Whitney Wolfe

Why: Tinder's one-time VP of marketing made the transition to tech entrepreneur when she launched Bumble, a dating app that allows only women to send the first message. For Wolfe, the app gives women the control and helps eliminate the awkwardness (and creepiness) that online dating can bring.

Founder: Lisa Bettany

Why: She began taking photos from her sick bed after suffering a figure skating accident at age 21. Many photographs later, she went on to co-found Camera+, an app that helps you take even better pictures on your iPhone through filters, zoom functions, and more. (Today, it has10 million downloads and counting.)

Founder: Kayla Itsines

Why: Itsines became an Instagram sensation—we're talking over 5 million followers— with her Bikini Body Guide and the #bbg hashtag that followers used when posting their astonishing fitness transformations. Capitalizing on her passion, Itsines launched Sweat With Kayla, an app that connects the world's biggest female fitness community and features her easy-to-follow workouts and meal plans.

Founder: Payal Kadakia

Why: When cult exercise classes started taking overthe fitness spaces, we became obsessed with ClassPass, the app that allows you to book an hour of fitness at a variety of different local studios each month, from yoga to boxing to spin. As a dancer, Kadakia launched the ingenious concept (inspired by OpenTable's business plan) after spending hours searching for an open ballet class.

Founder: Sian A. Morson

Why: Morson's Cast Beauty stands out from the thicket of beauty apps by providing you with a list of products personalized for your skin and hair type depending on the weather. Morson is also an artist, author, and member of the Africa Angels Network. And predictably, she has beautiful skin.

Founders: Olivia June-Poole and Jen Aprahamian

Why: If you've ever moved to a new city and didn't know a single soul, these two know exactly how you feel. The two friends discovered just how hard it was to meet like-minded women in the tech industry, so they launched Hey! VINA, which helps you find new platonic friends based on your interests, occupation, and location.

Founder: Silje Vallestad

Why: Vallestad founded a youth initiative at age 18, and later, her determination to help young women live in a safer world led her to launch bSafe, a personal safety app that lets friends and family track your location. Jada Pinkett Smith is a fan and spokesperson.

Founder: Carla White

Why: Research shows that when we take time to reflect on the good things in life—the things we feel grateful for—we feel happier. White realized that the iPhone makes it easy to document (and revisit) these moments, so she launched Get Gratitude, an app that lets you record five special moments a day through text, photos, or video.

Founder: Claire Boonstra

Why: This Dutch native wears many, many hats: Mother, entrepreneur, TED speaker, engineer, marketer, glider pilot, and app creator. In 2009 she co-founded Layar, a super easy-to-use program that lets users build their own augmented reality experiences.

Founder: Gillian Morris

Why: After traveling the world for five years, Morris founded Hitlist, an app that susses out the least expensive trip with the best route possible. Her goal? To help future travelers avoid the travel hiccups she encountered, like getting stranded in isolated locations.