myTamarin

myTamarin is a London-based childcare and parent-support company founded in 2017. It matched parents with nannies and newborn/maternity support using a psychology-grounded, AI-assisted process that assessed subjective criteria such as lifestyle, parenting style, family values and personality compatibility alongside professional experience, an approach the founder compared to online dating matchmaking. Questions used in the matching process were designed by psychologists and experienced childcare professionals, with a proprietary matching process proposing candidates that parents then selected from.

The company subsequently expanded from a matching service into a broader platform. It offered transparency for parents and nannies across vetting, recruitment and onboarding, and administered HMRC tax compliance, payroll, pension, payments and legal processes, while providing training and career management to nannies through the myTamarin Academy. It also described a shift from childcare to "parent care," offering ongoing support and tools to parents. The brand name refers to tamarin monkeys, which raise their young cooperatively in family groups.

In March 2024 the MyTamarin agency was acquired by Louenna's Nannies, an agency launched in August 2022 and run by Louenna Hood BEM, a qualified Norland Nanny and maternity nurse. The mytamarin.com domain now presents the Nanny Louenna brand, offering an app, a book, 1:1 online chats with Louenna, nanny placement, a business offering and the Nanny Academy.

Founding story

Zarja Cibej founded myTamarin in October 2017 after leaving a senior management consulting role, prompted by her own difficulty finding suitable childcare for her two young sons. She observed that a nanny well suited to one family might not suit another, and that mismatches usually stemmed from personality and working style rather than skills, so she studied how the dating industry matches people and applied compatibility-based matching to childcare. The name refers to tamarin monkeys, which parent in family groups and share the workload.

Business model

myTamarin operated a marketplace and service platform connecting parents with nannies, night nannies and maternity/newborn support. Beyond matching, it provided a virtual platform covering vetting, recruitment and onboarding, and handled HMRC tax compliance, payroll, pension, payments and legal processes for nanny employment, as well as training and career management for nannies. It also sold access through employers, positioning childcare support as part of employee benefits packages. Following the March 2024 acquisition, the agency operates under Louenna's Nannies, whose site also offers an app, a book, 1:1 online chats, a business offering and a nanny academy.

Revenue derived from nanny and maternity/newborn support placements and from platform services for parents and nannies, including payroll, pension, tax compliance and legal administration, plus nanny training via the myTamarin Academy and employer-funded childcare benefits arrangements.

Traction

Within months of its December 2017 launch the service had attracted hundreds of parents and childcare professionals and produced a number of matches. By mid-2018 the team included a psychologist, a web developer, a data scientist and three childcare recruiters; a 2019 directory listing showed 11-50 employees and roughly 17.9K monthly website visits. Total funding was listed in a startup directory as between €100K and €500K.

Latest developments

In March 2024 Louenna's Nannies acquired the MyTamarin agency, stating it would give parents access to a wider range of experienced nannies and an online platform enabling direct communication between parents and prospective nannies. The mytamarin.com domain now hosts the Nanny Louenna brand built around Louenna Hood BEM.