A GRADUATE has found a way to help his peers get ahead in their careers – and it already has eight million users.

Alfonso Cobo, who studied architecture at the University of Brighton, has co-founded Unfold, which allows users to put together professional portfolios on their phones through image-sharing app Instagram

While Alfonso, who runs his business with partner Andy McCune, was confident Unfold would fill a gap in the market, he never dreamed it would take off in the way it has.

He said: “I thought people might like it, but I never imagined seeing the numbers we’re now seeing every day. We’re at nearly eight million users.”

The inspiration for Unfold came when Alfonso was studying a Masters degree at Parsons School of Design in New York City.

He was due to attend a careers fair but realised he had no way of easily showing recruiters his work. This prompted him to create his own digital platform; Portafolio, which eventually grew into Unfold.

He said: “Unfold was a pivot from Portafolio after so many people were asking for a way to share their work on mobile devices.

“There was something about people wanting to share their work and tell their stories on their phones.

“I realised users wanted to share stories where most people would see them, and, at this time, Instagram stories was taking off so I decided to use that to my advantage.”

Alfonso moved to Brighton from his native Madrid, which he said was a “big risk”.

However, he said that studying at the University of Brighton was key to allowing him to get to where he is today.

He said: “Living in Brighton allowed me to explore a creative side of myself I hadn’t uncovered yet,and it helped me overcome the fear of taking risks in design.

“I met people from all over the world and they welcome me with open arms.

“I still keep in touch with many of my tutors from architecture at Brighton, such as Kate Cheyne, who really pushed me to think outside the box and gave me the freedom to experiment and research areas that interested me.

“Brighton is also one of the most welcome and fun places I’ve ever lived in.

“I loved getting immersed in British culture and I would have never experienced it in the same way I did without going to university.

“The people I met in Brighton during those three years really shaped me into the person I am today.”