In late 2022, Simon Hamp walked away from a stable salary at a startup where he’d spent almost six years. With no savings and no income lined up, the sensible thing would have been to take on more freelance work. Instead, he chose to build something new, a way for PHP developers to create native mobile apps without learning new languages or frameworks. That project became NativePHP for Mobile, and in its first three months, it generated over $100,000 in revenue.
Simon didn’t come from a product background. He had spent his career as a Laravel developer and engineer. But he’d always been curious about finding ways to distribute PHP applications like desktop software, and later, mobile apps. The problem was, PHP wasn’t designed to run on iPhones or Android devices, and Apple’s App Store approval process is notoriously difficult to predict.
That didn’t stop him. After hundreds of late nights, failed builds, and code rewrites, Simon shipped the first iOS app ever built with Laravel. Apple approved it and developers in his network were quick to pay for access to the tool that made it possible.
I’ve had no savings, no recurring income… but instead of doing the “right” thing I decided to finally try this idea I’d had for years.
Simon Hamp
Built in Public and Launched on Stage
The first version of NativePHP wasn’t even meant for mobile. It started with a proof of concept to build desktop apps using Laravel, wrapped in a Tauri shell, with a statically compiled PHP runtime underneath. Simon tweeted about it in April 2023 and quickly caught the attention of Marcel Pociot, a respected figure in the Laravel ecosystem. Marcel not only joined the project but also changed his Laracon US talk to present NativePHP to a packed room of developers in Nashville.
The announcement sparked interest right away, but it also created a new demand: developers wanted to build mobile apps too. That challenge became Simon’s next obsession.
He spent most of 2024 experimenting with ways to make PHP run natively on mobile devices. That meant digging into C extensions, native bridging code in Swift and Java, and solving the tricky issue of compiling PHP for both iOS and Android platforms. By the end of the yar, he’d applied to speak at multiple conferences on the topic and finally got a “yes” from Laracon EU.
He now had two months to finish the tool and write the talk.
Moments Frozen in Time
Every great painting captures a moment, sometimes imagined, sometimes lived. The tilt of a head, the softness of a gaze, or the chaos of a battle, all are suspended forever within the frame. These aren’t just images. They are stories frozen in oil and pigment.
In this stillness, we see movement. In silence, we hear echoes. Each detail adds depth to a larger narrative, allowing us to feel closer to the artists and subjects alike.
The Mobile Version Launched
Simon used the Laracon EU talk in early 2025 to launch NativePHP for Mobile to the public. In the days that followed, developers started buying licenses. Many had been following the progress online and were ready to test it as soon as it became available. Revenue hit $100,000 within three months.
At the time of launch, NativePHP for Mobile was sold through a GitHub Sponsors early access model at $200. That soon expanded into a proper license-based sales model, with pricing aligned to commercial usage. Today, Simon and his co-founder Shane Rosenthal are doing about $50,000 to $60,000 per month in recurring and one-off license revenue. They’re expecting that to rise throughout 2025.
The growth has been almost entirely organic. No ads, no outreach, no big launch campaigns. Just a clear problem, a working solution, and a developer community that trusts the people behind it.
Under the Hood
At a technical level, NativePHP for Mobile is doing something complex. It compiles PHP in a way that allows apps to run without a web server, then uses custom C extensions to connect Laravel code with native mobile features. This means developers write regular Laravel code, but behind the scenes, it interacts with Swift or Kotlin through tightly integrated layers.
It’s not always smooth. Compiling PHP for mobile platforms is time-consuming, error-prone, and involves lots of trial and error. But the outcome is powerful. A PHP developer with no mobile experience can build and ship apps to the App Store.
Currently, NativePHP is focused entirely on Laravel because it’s the most widely used PHP framework. Support for others might come later, but the priority has been on building deep integration where it matters most.
Community First, Revenue Second
Simon’s approach has been to play to his strengths. He’s been active in the Laravel community for years, so he wasn’t selling to strangers. When he showed up at Laracon EU to announce a new product, he was speaking to his peers.
He and Shane also decided to invest back into the community early on. They’ve sponsored Laravel projects, developers, and meetups, not just with attention, but with actual money. It’s a way of showing they’re not just vendors selling a tool. They’re still contributors, still building with the community, and still showing up.
This has helped NativePHP grow without a traditional marketing budget. The credibility was already there, and the product solved a real pain point.
Why the Co-Founder Partnership Made It Work
Simon built the iOS side of NativePHP, but it was Shane Rosenthal who unlocked the Android piece. They met through the Laravel community and quickly realised they were working on different ends of the same problem. Simon invited Shane to become a co-founder, and they launched Bifrost Technology together.
The decision to work as equals turned out to be one of the smartest moves Simon made. They split responsibilities, kept communication open, and moved fast. With only two people, they’ve built a six-figure product that still runs without employees.
What Comes Next
With momentum behind the mobile launch, NativePHP is now focused on improving documentation, adding more features, and expanding licensing. They’re planning to offer a more structured sales funnel for larger teams and agencies, and are looking at ways to improve the developer experience without making the system feel bloated or complicated.
There’s no rush to scale up headcount, but they’re open to it. For now, the priority is stability, usability, and continuing to support the developers who have backed them since day one.
Simon still wakes up early and writes code. He still answers questions in the community. And he still uses the same tools every Laravel developer uses, because ultimately, he built this product for people like himself.
NativePHP isn’t trying to take over mobile development. It’s just making it accessible to a group of developers who were previously shut out from it. That alone has been enough to turn an experiment into a business doing $100,000 in its first quarter, and growing every month since.
Our next goal is $500k. I think the path to that right now is to get some key product features like In-App Purchases and Over-the-Air (OTA) app updates working.
Simon Hamp
