Eloisa Pina dos Santos

But it wasn't always like this.

I grew up hearing stories about Timor-Leste. About the war, about the people, about what was lost and what remained to be built. As a child, my dream was to be an architect and a singer. To build houses in Timor. To bring comfort to a people who grew up with me, even without ever having been there.

In 2012, I launched a music project in the gospel music space. In 2016, I completed my master's degree in Architecture at Instituto Superior Técnico with a thesis that couldn't have been anything else: Sustainable Architecture in Timor-Leste. The project was called UMA. In Tetum, UMA means home.

I didn't go build houses in Timor. But I never stopped building.

In 2016, I started working in software with Fernando, my husband. He a computer engineer, me an architect. Two different perspectives on the same problem: how to create tools that truly serve those who use them. We started as freelancers, and in 2020 we gave a name to what we were already doing. Atelier de Software was born.

In 2022, we launched Good Store, our e-commerce platform. In 2024, we launched Good Bio. And in 2026, we are launching Ermera. Every solution we create is thought through to the last detail, from design to the buyer's experience. We don't do templates. We build tools with purpose.

Ermera is the name of a municipality in Timor-Leste. I grew up in Portugal, but with Timor and Cape Verde always present. My roots keep showing up in what I build. Not in concrete houses, but in digital tools that free up time and create opportunities.

Along the way, there was more. During the pandemic, Fernando and I created negocioslocais.pt, a free directory to help small businesses be found online. It was pro-bono, from start to finish. Between 2020 and 2022, we worked together on the Bytes4Future project, an initiative led by the Aga Khan Foundation, where I taught design and programming to about 100 NEET young people in Sintra. We built the learning platform from scratch and developed the bootcamp curriculum.

In 2022, I was one of the winners of the 2nd edition of AWE Portugal Academy for Women Entrepreneurs. In 2024, I joined the 1st edition of VOICE Leadership, a Nova SBE programme for SME decision-makers, which I completed in 2025, and the graduation ceremony was this year. What I learned there changed how I think about leadership, strategy, and my own role within the Atelier.

Between leading and building, I kept studying. eCommerce Management at ISEG and Elements of AI for Business at the University of Helsinki. Because leading a technology company requires always being one step ahead.

If you have a brand that wants to sell online, or if you're taking your first steps in digital, I can help you find the right path. Get to know Atelier de Software or reach out to me directly on LinkedIn.

All my links are at thegood.bio/eloisa.