Mamaraderie partners with Banko Creative Studio

It's hard to believe that we created Mamaraderie just over 3 years ago.  We met in 2019 at Cannon Coffee on Ottawa St. to talk about collaborating on the businesses we were running at the time (Ela was working on Sitterhood, an online marketplace connecting moms for occasional childcare, and Shelbi was running Moms Hamilton, connecting moms on mat leave through IRL events across Hamilton). We were both determined to make the motherhood experience better through connections with other moms. We loved what we were doing, but unfortunately Covid brought both our businesses to a halt. 

Seeing, hearing and experiencing the effect that the pandemic had on moms was heartbreaking. We knew how much moms needed connection to get through those incredibly challenging times, and we were trying to think of things we could do to help, individually. We hadn’t spoken much since the pandemic hit, but then a mom in the Moms Hamilton Facebook group suggested that we should use the Sitterhood platform to make it easier for the Moms Hamilton group to connect online and for socially distanced meet-ups locally. 

So in 2021, we launched The MILF Society (Mom I’d Like to Friend…IYKYK). It was edgy and fun, but we quickly realized it was not something you want to type into your Google search 🤣. After some brainstorming we came up with Mamaraderie - we loved having camaraderie at the core of our brand. It’s what this community is all about. 

Our vision has always been to help moms connect easily online so they can build meaningful relationships IRL. We knew the technology aspect of our business would be crucial to creating a great member experience - to help you find moms in your area with shared interests, and make it possible to find things to do together in-person. 

As two moms with no tech experience, building a tech start-up hasn’t been easy. We have worked really hard to create the best member experience possible on a very small budget brought in from subscription fees. We have gone from a marketplace with a WhatsApp group chat, to a Slack workspace, to developing our own proprietary web app, and now having a progressive web app (thanks to our amazing developer, Adam, who joined the team in 2022). It’s been a journey to say the least! 

Today, we are THRILLED to share that Banko Creative Studio is joining us on this journey moving forward! Banko's creativity, innovation and community-first mindset are exactly what we need to take Mamaraderie to the next level. We're so excited about the new opportunities that this relationship will bring to our platform and, most importantly, to you.

Our online experience is about to get a major upgrade! We’ll be adding new functionality and making the app downloadable through the Apple and Google stores as early as this Fall (which means mobile push notifications!). Working with the amazing Banko team will not only help expedite our technology development but also help us refine and execute our overall strategy and growth plans. We can't wait to share more on what's coming!

As we move into this next stage of our evolution, we want you to tell us what you’re looking for from your mamaraderie experience. We'll be sharing a survey in the next week to gather your feedback on what you’d like to see in this new chapter! 

We also want to take this time to say THANK YOU for your continued support and trust. The foundation to our growth and success is the incredible members that make up our community. We can’t wait to keep building and growing together to make Mamaraderie the best that it can be. And we’re so grateful to the Banko team for helping us deliver on those dreams!  

xo,

Ela & Shelbi