Meet Hal & Emi

This is us outside in the freezing February weather in London, carrying a fully set up hamster home outside to show people on the streets what fabulous hamster care looks like. Don't worry, there was no hamster inside!

We started Bandaby because we want to help millions of families give animals a loving home instead of a cage.

Both of us have sacrificed a huge amount and taken an enormous leap of faith to chase that dream.

Let us tell you the story of how we started Bandaby.

November 24th 2023

Hal returns to London after 2 years working for Uber in Brazil. Deliriously jet-lagged, he is immediately asked to go and buy food for his 25 year old brother's goldfish. For some reason (fate?) he agrees.

Hal enters Pets at Home and see shelves upon shelves of hideous hamster cages.

Curious, he starts Googling that evening and discover a shocking truth. Not only are the majority of hamster cages ugly and poor quality - they're also a fraction of the size they should be.

Multi-Billion dollar pet companies know this and just don't care.

That evening, Bandaby is Born.

April 2024

Hal has left Uber and spent the last 6 months obsessively researching hamster care. Watching endless videos, reading every guide, and speaking to anyone from the welfare community who'd answer his very persistent DMs.

Hal meets with Mark and Harry from Beta Design Office in Osteria Antica Bologna on Northcote Road and they agree to join as partners to create our first homes.

June 2025

Our first ever hamster home has arrived in London. Hal cries.

We have spent the previous year building in public. Sharing designs & collaborating with the amazing welfare communities - without their generosity and advice, we wouldn't be here today.

Andrea Ayensa has joined the team to bring our brand to life through her wonderful illustrations.

We use that first home to rescue & foster a very special little hamster called Barney.

September 2025

Hal meets Emilia at an event and knows right away he's met the co-founder he was looking for!

Emi agrees to help us change the world - just as our first hamster homes go into production.

Thank heavens for that, because he needed all the help he could get!!

December 2025

The first 150 homes are nearly there - but nearly isn't good enough!

So Hal cancels Christmas, flies out to our production centre in China, and spends 10 days on the floor fixing the small things, one by one, until they're right.

This is Hal with our factory team on Christmas eve with our first hamster homes ready to go on the boat out to our very first customers

March 2026

We launch our first product: 150 Bandaby homes, the first ever sold. They sell out faster than expected. We get lots of pictures of homes with happy hamsters inside. And a wall of five-star reviews to go with them. We cry again. All struggles worth it.

Also we rescue another hamster that was abandoned in London - his name is Pineapple and he is now living with the most wonderful family in one of our homes!

June 2026

We've been featured in Vogue... Twice!!!

Our Dig & Dream Aspen Bedding was teased online and got 4M views on Instagram?!

We have +700 people subscribed to the launch and only 230 boxes of bedding available. We're already getting ready to make a bigger order!

Andddd the Bandaby Hamster Home No. Two is already in the works and is already even more fabulous than before. There may or may not be another colour launching too!

We may have also rescued ANOTHER hamster. Her name is Lola and she is a sweetheart!

Our Mission

Absolutely everything that we make at Bandaby has to pass three tests:

1) It needs to be outstanding for animal welfare

2) It needs to be fabulous quality

3) It needs to look absolutely gorgeous

Because we want to help families all over the world give animals a loving home, instead of a cage.

We are working so incredibly hard to make you guys proud and give you a place that you can trust completely and that makes the next generation of animal families excited to give their animals the best possible lives.

Thank you for supporting us!

Hal & Emi