San Diego Voyager Interviews Outex Underwater Housing Co-Founder JR deSouza

Outex Co-Founder Featured in San Diego Voyager

JR deSouza is an Olympic swimmer turned entrepreneur who co-founded Outex in 2010 after securing patents for an invention to protect electronic gear in water. He founded the company with his cousin Roberto — a mechanical engineer who, like JR, was passionate about the outdoors, watersports, and travel.

Outex was born from a simple frustration: existing underwater housings were large, heavy, camera-specific cases that were cumbersome, impractical, and non-modular. The team set out to build something different — a high-quality, lightweight, compact, travel-friendly, and affordable waterproof camera housing system that worked across a wide range of cameras and lenses. "Outex offers professional results and unique characteristics, such as glass-only ports, full operational control of any camera and lens, underwater tethering, and more," JR explains.

Before Outex, JR's career spanned Silicon Valley and Hollywood. He was the original product manager at TiVo, then moved to SoCal to join Disney and later DreamWorks Animation, where he served as Head of International Licensing. His passion for storytelling, video, and technology laid the groundwork for what Outex has become: a brand that attracts cinematographers and photographers worldwide — working across fashion, sports, adventure, travel, and even military applications. Outex housings have served on multiple deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan.

On the art and mission behind Outex:

The foundation of Outex is threefold: proprietary patents, a commitment to adventure photography and cinematography, and a product that genuinely serves working creatives in the field. The goal from day one has been to make professional-quality waterproof protection accessible to any photographer — regardless of camera system or environment.

On what it takes to succeed as a creative entrepreneur:

"Passion for what you do. Creativity. And a vision." For JR, those three things have driven every decision — from the first patent filing to building a global community of Outex users pushing the boundaries of imaging in the field.

Photo Credit: Alex Voyer

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