How I Made This: melo, a Macquare Park startup helping families share the mental load

How can you manage a modern family’s admin, without one person carrying all the mental load? That’s the problem local entrepreneurs, melo, set out to solve. Discover their journey in the latest installment of our occasional video series, “How I Made This”.

Amazing ideas evolve in Australia’s original innovation district, Macquarie Park!

The people behind melo have used team work theory to create a process, program and app to help families make their partnership more productive - while putting aside the biases of traditional gender roles. They’re now offering their product to employers who want to help professional parents avoid burnout.

Residents at the Macquarie University Incubator, the melo team won a research grant via the Incubator’s 2021 pitch competition. Working with academics and the University’s research community allowed them to do further research, verify their methodology and ensure melo has a strong evidence base.

Since this How I Made This case study was filmed, the melo team have refreshed the app based on input from experts in their community, and learnings from their first pilot. They’re expanding the educational element of the melo offer, too.

Co-founder Maja Paleka says she is excited about what’s next:

“We have three more corporate pilots confirmed... Our next step is gaining new corporate partners, and securing investment for further solution development.”

Paleka says growing a startup in the Macquarie Park innovation district community has been rewarding, with access to research, engaged local corporate partners, and the excellent facilities at the Macquarie University Incubator:

“It’s an extremely generous community. We’re surrounded by people who are always so willing to give time, advice, experience and support whenever we need it,”

“My advice for startups? Stay flexible and open. You may think you know how your solution will work but until you send it out into the world you have no idea what will work and what may not, and so be ready to respond to users feedback which may tell you that the way you are going about things may need to change.”