Developer & AI Architect

Kevin
El-Zarka

I build AI-powered products that solve real problems —from idea to shipped product, fast.

Full-Stack DeveloperAI Product BuilderStartup Founder
See my work
Kevin El-Zarka

About

The short version

I'm Kevin — a 29-year-old self-taught developer and founder based in a small town in southern Sweden called Åseda. Less than a year ago, I'd never written a line of code in my life.

Then I discovered Lovable Shipped — a global competition by Lovable, one of the fastest-growing companies in tech history. I built an app in a weekend, competed against 6,000 builders worldwide, and placed #2 globally. I'm now featured on Lovable's front page under “The World's Greatest Builders.”

That app became Tale Forge — an AI-powered platform that helps children build empathy through interactive storytelling. It got picked up by SVT, P4, and local media, and today has over 3,000 users with zero marketing spend.

What drives me isn't the tech itself — it's using it to make something that actually matters to someone. Whether it's helping kids develop emotional intelligence or building an MVP that saves a founder six figures, I care most about the impact.

Technologies I work with

ReactNext.jsTypeScriptTailwind CSSSupabasePostgreSQLAWSGoogle GeminiClaudeNode.jsStripeVercelPythonGPT-4

Portfolio

Selected Work

Tale Forge
Featured Project

Tale Forge

~3,000 users · 73% completion · #2 worldwide

AI-powered storytelling platform where children become the heroes of their own empathy-building adventures. Interactive choices, AI illustrations, voice narration, and measurable emotional development.

Next.jsReactTypeScriptSupabaseGoogle GeminiAWS BedrockTTS
View Project
Outbehaving
Featured Project

Outbehaving

Interactive demo platform for a UK startup building the world's first people-owned global company. Cinematic design with multi-layer parallax and scroll-driven animations.

Next.jsFramer MotionTailwind CSSVercel
View Project
Xlify

Xlify

AI-powered PDF to Excel converter. GPT-4 Vision extracts tables from invoices, bank statements, and reports with 90-99% accuracy. Full SaaS with Stripe billing.

React 19TypeScriptExpresstRPCGPT-4 VisionStripe
View Project
SmålandWebb

SmålandWebb

Web design agency targeting local Swedish businesses. Built an automated lead generation pipeline sourcing and verifying 59 leads without manual research.

Next.jsNode.jsBrave Search APIZoho SMTP
View Project
Viktoria Pizzeria

Viktoria Pizzeria

Restaurant website with AI-powered multilingual support and an intuitive online ordering interface.

Next.jsAI SDKFramer Motionnext-intl
GIM VEA

GIM VEA

Operations partner website for a business consultant. Clean, premium design with clear service positioning.

Next.jsTailwind CSSVercel
Mission Control

Mission Control

Real-time AI agent dashboard for monitoring, controlling, and optimizing autonomous AI workflows. Live chat, cron scheduling, cost tracking, and scout engine.

ReactExpressViteWebSocket
Innovaiden

Innovaiden

Modern website with AI-assisted product catalogue automation for a furniture import business. Multilingual content management.

Next.jsAI Content Pipelinei18n

Demo

Tale Forge in Action

A cinematic demo produced entirely solo using AI tools

More videos on YouTube →

Track Record

Milestones

#2

Worldwide

Global startup competition, 6,000+ participants

#1

in Europe

International demo day, Stockholm

9

Products Shipped

Client work, SaaS, and personal projects

3,000+

Users

Tale Forge — organic growth, zero ad spend

<1 yr

Self-Taught

From first line of code to production apps

1

Inkubator

Accepted into Science Park Jönköping

Testimonials

What people say

“He has a rare combination of advanced AI expertise, technical precision and a big heart. He genuinely listens, quickly understands what is needed, and immediately grasps the bigger picture. Fast, solution-oriented and genuine in the way he works and in the way he shows up as a person. Calm, reliable, and deeply committed to delivering real value.”

MB

Monika Björklund

Virtual Executive Assistant — Client

“Kevin's one of those rare people with a unique combination of drive, rapid technical growth, and willingness to always help others. He went from having no prior dev experience to building and launching a complex application that earned 2nd place in the global 'Lovable Shipped' competition, beating out over 5,000 other competitors. Any team or individual would be incredibly fortunate to work with him.”

MH

Mahmoud Halat

Director, Product Marketing & AI Transformation at Verto Health

“He's a truly driven entrepreneur who tackles things independently, learns quickly, and isn't afraid to test and iterate along the way. Kevin is easy to work with and brings a genuine, positive energy to conversations and collaborations. I believe Kevin will continue to grow quickly and develop in any environment.”

PB

Patrick Boström

Marketing & Sales | Startup Advisor | Angel Investor

“Few people have the capacity to single-handedly conceive an idea and bring it to reality. Kevin is one such person. He uniquely connects with each idea through a deep sense of purpose in his pursuit of maximum impact. I have invited Kevin to my podcast and community to inspire us with his kind heart and resolve.”

JM

Javier Muñoz, MSIE BSME

Founder and CEO of Just Action | Lovable Ambassador

“Kevin is a hardworking and values driven founder. He's shown enormous natural entrepreneurial spirit and ranked in the top 10 in a global boot camp out of nearly 6k founders. He's also an amazing person full of passion and positivity. I'd happily recommend picking Kevin to be part of your A team.”

BA

Brenton Andersen

Growth @ Toolhouse | Advisor | Prev: Lovable

“Kevin has the fire that a founder needs, and something I love working with. His determination to build user-centric makes him an outstanding professional in this space. A real founder/builder to keep an eye on!”

RB

Robin Bos

Founder & CSO @ K.B Consultancy | Talent Acquisition Expert

“Kevin and I got in touch through a mutual friend. What started as friendly business chats turned into a great business relationship.”

DH

Damian Hateley

CEO, Outbehaving Ltd

Get in touch

Let's build something
together

Available for freelance projects, AI consulting, and MVP development.
I turn ideas into shipped products — fast.

kevin@tale-forge.appLinkedInGitHubDownload CV

Kevin El-Zarka · Åseda, Sweden · 2026