Amid the rise of new AI-powered low-code developer tools targeting hobbyists and non-technical users, Uno Platform is taking a different approach by focusing on enterprise developers. Based in Montreal, Uno Platform provides a suite of enterprise-grade tools designed to help developers build cross-platform .NET applications that run on Android, Apple, Linux, and Windows systems. The platform allows developers to write an application once and easily deploy it across multiple platforms from the same codebase.
Uno Platform co-founder and CEO Francois Tanguay explained the efficiency benefits to TechCrunch, stating, “If you’re coding something once and it works on five different platforms—desktop, web, and mobile—you’re getting 5x the productivity already.” While other app development tools exist, Tanguay believes Uno Platform distinguishes itself in a market crowded with trendy coding platforms.
Tanguay emphasized that enterprise developers deserve productivity tools as well. “Everything we are shipping hasn’t been done before, and we have a clear roadmap for adding capabilities that can make developers 10x faster,” he said. “Nobody’s capturing that market yet in the enterprise space.”
The two-year-old startup’s enterprise focus has drawn both customers and investors. Uno Platform recently secured a C$3.5 million ($2.54 million) seed funding round co-led by AQC Capital and Desjardins Capital, with participation from Microsoft’s vice president of developer community, Scott Hanselman, and other angel investors. The funding will support the rollout of Uno Platform Studio, a premium tooling tier, and a new feature called “Hot Design,” which enables developers to pause a running application and modify its user interface in real time.
Uno Platform’s origins trace back to Nventive, a consulting agency Tanguay founded in 2008 to build apps for businesses as mobile applications gained traction. Over time, Nventive developed internal tools to improve efficiency, eventually evolving into Uno Platform. In 2018, the company released the platform as open-source, allowing the community to help adapt to frequent operating system updates.
Tanguay noted the success of this strategy, saying, “We have over a hundred million downloads of the platform—something we wouldn’t have been able to achieve alone. Betting on open-source allowed the community to grow the initiative, proving others saw the same value in this toolbox.”
With more than 300 open-source contributors, Uno Platform gained enough traction for Nventive to spin it out as a separate entity in 2023. Since then, the company has partnered with enterprise clients, including Toyota, Microsoft, and TradeZero.