Series 8: Exploring the Puerto Rico Startup Ecosystem Episode 171 Building an App for Book Lovers with Lincy Ayala, CEO & CoFounder of BookSloth

RareBirds Emerging Markets Podcast

Lincy Ayala is Co-Founder and CEO of BookSloth. Lincy began her career as a biologist, whose love for animals had her working at a Nonprofit Wildlife preserve. Soon after, she re-discovered her passion for design when preparing graphics for the wildlife enclosures. From there she became a freelance developer/designer and has worked with multiple companies over the last 6 years. Her work has included designing responsive and interactive designing website layouts, mobile apps, user experiences, and physical products, among many others. Her technical experience includes knowledge in: UX/UI Design, Web and Mobile Design, prototyping tools and project managing software. Lincy has collaborated with WomenTechOver, a community of women who get together to talk about their technology projects and inspire other women to pursue tech careers while also advocating for more inclusive work environments. If she’s not working, you’ll find her cuddled up reading some YA or Fantasy book.

Xiomara Figueroa is Co-Founder, and CTO of BookSloth. Xiomara grew up in the central highlands of Puerto Rico to become a first-generation undergraduate student at the University of Puerto Rico. She started by studying architecture, eventually switching to biology until her junior year when she took an introduction to Computer Science course by chance, and fell in love with the practical aspect of it all. She considers herself deeply committed to diversity in tech and education. That led her to co-found Include Girls, a student led non-profit organization for women in STEM fields. She attributed her community-driven attitude to her fellowship with CODE2040, a non-profit organization that supports Black and Latinxs in tech. Since then she has focused her work on building with technology and giving back to the community by serving as a mentor and role model.