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About us

Two mums.
One village.

We didn't just need a babysitter. We needed backup. So we built it - a human-first platform where AI finds the match, and a real person makes sure it's right before it ever reaches you.

Nikki and Sophia, founders of The Village Co.
Our story

Why we built this.

We started The Village Co. because we were done pretending to do it all. Two Waikato mums, four kids between us, and the same exhausting story every parent knows: the juggling, the guilt, the endless mental tally of who's covering what.

Childcare platforms at the time felt like a choice between a faceless app and an expensive agency. Neither felt right. We wanted something that combined the trust of a personal recommendation with the convenience of a platform, and the warmth of an actual community behind it.

So we built it. A platform where our team does the matching, you get the final say on who walks through your door, and every sitter is vetted and insured as standard, not as an upsell.

This isn't about scrambling for a last-minute fix. It's about planned breathing room. The kind of backup that lets you actually relax on a night out, get through a deadline, or just have an hour to yourself.

See how it works

"We didn't just need a babysitter. We needed backup."

Nikki and Sophia, Founders
The Village Co.

What makes us different

Not a marketplace. Not a directory. Not an agency. Something better.

Most platforms make you choose: an algorithm that's fast but impersonal, or an agency that's personal but slow and expensive. We didn't think that should be a trade-off.

🤖

AI finds the match

Our matching technology looks at your family's needs, location, and preferences to surface the sitters most likely to be a great fit. Fast, and genuinely smart about it.

+
🌿

A human reviews it

Before any recommendation reaches your family, a real person on our team checks it. Every single time. No match goes to a parent without a human saying yes first.

✓

A match you can actually trust

This is the bit that's genuinely unique to us. AI gives us speed and scale. The human layer gives you the judgement and accountability that an algorithm alone never will.

100s
of NZ families have found their village
6
vetting layers before a sitter is approved
$2M
liability insurance on every booking
7
NZ cities and growing
How we work

What you can expect from us.

The same standards we'd want for our own families.

🤝

Real people, real support

Every match is reviewed by a human. Every question gets a real reply. We're not hiding behind a chatbot, and we never will be.

🛡️

Trust isn't negotiable

Every sitter goes through six layers of vetting including a NZ Police check and a face-to-face interview with our team. No exceptions, ever.

🌿

It's a community, not a transaction

Through Village Gatherings and our podcast, Hot Messes Big Visions, we're building something parents and sitters can be part of beyond a single booking.

Beyond babysitting

The wider village.

The Village Co started with families and sitters, but the village is bigger than that.

Village for Work

Childcare as a workplace benefit, helping NZ employers support working parents through discounted rates and Back to Work bundles.

Village for Hotels

On-demand babysitting for hotel and venue guests, with exclusive supplier rights for partner wedding venues.

Village Gatherings

Real-life community events for parents and sitters across NZ, because the village was always meant to be more than an app.

Ready to find
your village?

Tell us what you need and we'll start your match. Takes less than a minute, and there's a real person on the other side.

Start your match Become a sitter