About CoNectar
We help community programs become places of belonging
CoNectar gives program groups a private space to stay connected between sessions, and a clear way to see belonging grow.
Your organisation runs the community. We provide the platform and the measurement.
Grounded in lived experience
“My experience with cancer taught me the importance of having connections and a support network around me. Not just any connection, but meaningful connection with people who understood. Spaces like that are few and far between. It’s exactly that in-between space that can be so damaging. I started CoNectar so connection and support networks are not left to chance. Because no one should feel alone in this world.”
Nick Mayes, Founder
Grounded in research
Built on what makes people feel connected and a sense of belonging
CoNectar's design began with a simple question: what do people need to feel less lonely, disconnected and isolated? We explored it through two accelerator programs in partnership with Victoria University and the CSIRO (ONprime + ONtranslate programs 2025), with focus groups and more than 100 interviews.
Five themes came up again and again, raised by 94% of the people we spoke with: feeling safe to share, feeling understood, feeling supported, feeling connected, and feeling like you belong. They became the foundation the platform is built on.
They also became ‘The Belonging Index’: five simple questions that show where a program stands today, and whether belonging is growing over time. Our first pilot, with MOIRA's ConnectWell program, is now testing it in practice with aspirations to do more.
Syma R
Academic Sessional, Discipline of IT, College of Engineering & Science
Victoria University
Associate Professor Khandakar E U Ahmed
[PhD (RMIT), MSc (UoR), B.Sc (SUST)]
Discipline Leader, Emerging Trends in Science, IT & Engineering, Institute for Sustainable Industries and Liveable Cities (ISILC)
Associate Professor in IT, College of Art, Business, Law, Education & IT (CoABLEIT),
Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia