Filip founded Octophin in 2016 after two years of building engaging and popular, press-covered digital applications for the Zoological Society of London (ZSL).

He is a software developer with three decades of experience building websites, straight from the dawn of the world wide web in his early teens. Aside from a lifelong passion for the open web as the greatest piece of technology created by humans, he is a vocally dedicated ambassador for ethics in technology and tech for good.

His main passion outside of Octophin’s software work is training, mentoring and bringing opportunities to people from underrepresented backgrounds. In his spare time, Filip is a writer, digital artist and composer. 

Prior to his web development career, Filip worked at a University mentoring media students and as a newspaper journalist.

Rowan has worked with Octophin for six years, re-training into software engineering and databases from an academic background in ecology and biodiversity.

Their previous jobs include being an assistant manager of a visitor attraction, a digitising technician for a global biodiversity initiative, and a zoo-keeper. At Octophin, Rowan leads on front-end development and database design. Outside of work Rowan is a morris dancer.

Senior developer Cris Thompson often leads on large data exports and imports, juggling interactions between databases and explaining data interfaces to clients.

Cris spent two years in Panama farming butterflies and managing a field station for the Smithsonian Institute. He also helps with the technology infrastructure of the Big Wasp Survey. Cris studied art and is a practising artist and ceramicist.

Kim is an experienced project manager with more than eight years of experience. Prior to her role at Octophin, Kim worked as a project manager with major global charities and commercial organisations.

At Octophin, Kim has overseen projects such as a data scraper for Key Biodiversity Areas, the Seabird Tracking project, TerrAdapt data visualisation system and OneEarth data visualiser. She is a budding beekeeper.

Simon is a creative director and digital designer, an independent generalist with 25 years professional experience. He's a published author, has spoken at events around the world and previously organised the New Adventures conference. He has assisted govs, banks, airlines, multinational electronics companies, record labels, publishers, charities, and many more. From 2012 to 2018 he was a partner and senior designer at Fictive Kin.

Simon believes strongly that designers should care for the arts and humanities, and draw from a vast array of diverse inputs and experiences. He also believes digital tools can be a force for good; that they have much to offer in connecting us to the beauty all around us. 

Simon is married to illustrator Geri Coady and lives in Nottingham, UK.

Rachel is a highly skilled and experienced Product Designer with over ten years of industry experience in designing complex web-based digital products. Rachel has worked with a diverse range of clients including The British Museum, Scholastic, HarperCollins, Axel Scheffler (illustrator of The Gruffalo), The Whale and Dolphin Association and The Children’s Bookshow. She also previously worked as a marketing data analyst within the publishing industry.

Rachel and Octophin have worked together on several arts projects with the Audience Agency and have also mapped historic sturgeon sightings, forests and wildlife habitats.

Sam is a graphic designer and founder of Festoon Studio. He has 8+ years experience specialising in infographic and report design in the research and charity sectors. Sam has a particular interest in communicating research through infographics, with the aim of amplifying the impact of their work. His focus is on understanding complex information to ensure it’s creatively, clearly, engagingly and accessibly communicated. 

Sam has worked with organisations such as Nesta, Greenpeace, Guy's and St Thomas Charity, Child.org and academic lead projects from academics at institutions such as Imperial College London and University College London.

Anna Šebestová is the artist behind the illustration and pattern design brand annanemone. She designed Octophin's logo and the  illustrations you see on this website.

Anna has created custom patterns and apparel collections, alongside other products such as wallpaper and home decor. She has created custom work for small businesses and individuals, as well as larger clients of the likes of the Prague Zoo and Octopus Publishing Group, creating custom illustrations for cookbooks.

Anna lives in Prague, Czech Republic.

Cris is a brilliant copywriter and interpretation developer with expert knowledge in the sectors Octophin works in. She has worked with clients including ZSL (through which she and Octophin met), the British Museum and the Natural History Museum.

Lauren and Filip co-founded Octophin after first working together in the digital communications team at London Zoo; realising they could take the viral, press-gathering apps and social media successes to the wider world. Lauren was a giant part of Octophin for the first few years and remains a close friend. Following her essential role during Octophin's beginning she went off to successful jobs at Art Fund, The National Archives and the Wellcome Collection where she is currently Product Manager.

Veronika joined Octophin first as an intern and showed such flair for coding she was eventually taken on as a Junior Developer.

At Octophin Veronika worked on many successful projects including the Time Traveller's Guide to London Zoo, WILDLABS and TerrAdapt.

Valeria is a brilliant front end developer who worked at Octophin for many years building some of our biggest projects.

She is passionate about conservation and contributes to the sector both through work and voluntary work at places including a WWF run animal shelter.

She left Octophin to pursue exciting new opportunities in AI.

Niamh originally studied art before managing a gallery in Dublin for a few years, moved to London in 2015 to study critical writing in art & design, then worked as a writer and editor until discovering the joy of coding in 2018. Following a period of training and mentoring at Octophin, Niamh worked on some key front end development projects as Octophin grew, before leaving to continue on a career as a successful web developer.