Full Service. Redefined.
Founded in 2014, WeAreBrain heads up an independent, award-winning digital agency group and operates as a technology partner to international organisations, agencies, innovative startups and scale-ups. Being in the business of ideas and innovation, we support creators and inventors in bringing their vision to life.
Together, our boutique agency group offers marketing, branding, design and software services, rooted firmly in technological advancement and solid customer experience. Our daughter agencies, Solving, Grover and Braveye help support our vision of providing hyper-specialised solutions that are bespoke to your needs through a full-service agency approach.
We are a force field of 75 creators and entrepreneurs with expertise in product design, software development, data analytics and machine learning. Our collective experience and expertise lie in FMCG, Retail, Healthcare, FinTech and Media Entertainment.
WeAreBrain was voted in the Emerce Top 100 and we are a proud member of DDA, representing the leading digital agencies in the Netherlands. Our Tur.ai platform was selected among the Top 25 innovations in the Accenture Innovation Awards and we won a prestigious SpinAward, along with nominations for Best of Swiss Web and Dutch Interactive Awards.
Our contribution to female entrepreneurship and gender equality in IT has been recognised by TheNextWomen and EY Winning Women.
WeAreBrain is owned and run by its founders from our headquarters in Amsterdam and Kiev. We collaborate with innovative Enterprise customers and international organisations such as HEINEKEN, Domino’s, Praxis DIY and the United Nations.

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Praxis AR Floor Calculator
The AR Floor Calculator within the Praxis Plus app uses AR to turn your mobile device into a tape measure with e-commerce superpowers. As a consumer, you can choose from and preview more than 170 floors, calculate the right amount you need and purchase in one seamless experience.

NOC*NSF Olympic Partner Portal
The Dutch Olympic Committee*Dutch Sports Federation (NOC*NSF), the overall coordinating Dutch sports organisation that also functions as the Dutch National Olympic Committee and National Paralympic Committee, required complete customisation of their existing Participant Portal CMS solution after 8 years of use.
Due to the application’s complete customisation, required updates are costly and, in certain parts, are no longer possible for certain components. We needed to establish a refined submission process for participants, including automation for their personal data checks. The aim was to be able to re-use existing solutions for different Olympic events going forward.

Beautiful News - Reframing our world
The challenge
Cape Town-based Ginkgo Agency required a brand new platform for their product Beautiful News, a positive news source releasing stories at 4:14 pm every day. We needed to design their platform and develop a suite of key features and functionalities, including an elegant solution to display Today’s Story from a list of categorised stories.
Our solution
WeAreBrain’s team of developers and designers created new Channels and Editions functionalities, as well as Advanced Search, Podcast and My Account features. The team also developed a Google Voice Assistant to go with the site. To try it out, just simply say: “Hi Google, talk to Beautiful News” on your Android smartphone.
Furthermore and very excitingly, WeAreBrain has developed a new Contributor Hub, a platform where the community can submit new story ideas and participate in the production of stories around the world as ideators, creators and patrons.
Technology
The Beautiful News mobile-first web application is based on Drupal 8 technology and the Google Voice Assistant created by the team is accessible via Android Smart Devices. Simply Say “Hi Google, talk to Beautiful News” and start brightening up your day with the best new good news stories.

Developing a global arbitration knowledge base
The International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA) approached WeAreBrain to get a full revision of their website that had been created over 12 years ago. Aside from wanting a fresh new look, we needed to create a website that had the same flexibility as the old one, as well as ensure that all the data and the 1000+ active members were migrated across to the new site seamlessly. In addition, ICCA required a new platform to be built for the Young ICCA.

Expanding a D2C children's label internationally
My Tiny Stars, a webstore that focuses on fashion and accessories for children between the ages of 0-3, needed to improve their visibility and talkability within the e-commerce space. They also needed support with the development of a new webshop that easily translated the content of the site into several languages.

Marketplace for second hand trucks and trailers
TIP Sales required a complete remarketing drive involving new development and maintenance services to the existing website which already had an established look and feel. It also became apparent that due to TIP Europe operating from 102 locations across 17 countries in Europe and North America, we would need to ensure that the new website offered multiple language options.

The Netflix of e-learning in hospitality
Challenge
In Q1 2016 Lobster Ink, the world’s leading online education platform for the hospitality industry, approached the WeAreBrain team to explore a new collaboration. The partnership would entail the design, development and launch of a new Lobster Ink website and online marketing of the Lobster Ink platform, globally.
Solution
WeAreBrain set up two dedicated sprint teams that worked with Lobster Ink over a period of six months. A truly international initiative; teams were located in Amsterdam, Kiev, Geneva and CapeTown, meeting daily, using software support tools to support the collaboration.
Team One (re)designed and developed the new website, including the development of an enterprise ready, open source CMS (Umbraco) and the customization and integration of 3rd party services for job application tracking. (http://lobsterink.com/careers/), PR (http://lobsterink.pr.co/) and Employee Onboarding (http://safari.lobsterink.com/)
A DevOps engineer would manage the Azure Cloud hosting environment of the site.
Team two, WeAreBrain’s marketing specialists, created a digital strategy focusing on content creation and management (text, visual video), as well as key online marketing operations; SEO, social media support, and data analytics.

TheOptimal.Me - Older. Bolder. Better after 50
Our client and partner, FireFinch, realised the need for a wellness platform specifically catered to people aged 50 and above. With so many fitness and wellness apps out there targeted to young adults, older generations struggle to find wellness solutions which cater to their specific needs.
FireFinch collaborated closely with WeAreBrain since 2018 to provide innovative tech solutions focused on functional fitness and wellness for the body, mind and spirit. Using Drupal 8, iOS and Android technology, TheOptimal.me gives users expert advice, the latest information and guidance on how to make the best of the best years of your life.
TheOptimal.me is an easy to use, intuitive platform (web and app) which uses videos, articles and how-to’s to share valuable information regarding health and wellness. The team created a series of fitness workouts, stretches and technique instructional videos and carefully curated nutrition plans to help matures lead a holistic lifestyle.

Creating a luxury retail experience online
Challenge
The aim was to create a bespoke luxury online retail experience. The online organic skincare market was missing a platform which focused on high-end products. The web experience of existing e-commerce platforms was often disappointing and offered no professional advice about which products suited individual customers. These platforms were also unsophisticated and lacked a smooth user experience. This was in stark contrast to the service received by customers in luxury boutiques.
Solution
Working with Bloom Avenue, we developed a sophisticated e-commerce platform. The platform includes an online skin assessment, provided through a questionnaire and via a Facebook Messenger chatbot which we developed specifically for Bloom Avenue. A digital magazine has also been developed and launched to spread exclusive and relevant content and news.
Result
Bloom Avenue now provides an online advisory experience that is second to none and is at the forefront of the customisation trend for cosmetics. The company’s been featured in a series of online and offline publications such as Women’s Health, Emerce and Mademoiselle Nature.

Bespoke insurance solutions for part-time professionals and freelancers
Challenge
Finding insurance that suits the needs of professionals in the gig economy can be both tedious and cumbersome, especially as a ‘one size fits all’ approach is outdated in today's working landscape. We aimed to provide bespoke insurance solutions for part-time professionals and freelancers, taking into account their specific requirements and set out to save them time and money by providing them with a quote in 10 minutes or less.
Solution
Working with MyRiskDesk, we developed PTProCover, a new platform offering bespoke insurance solutions for part-time professionals and freelancers in partnership with Nationwide, one of the largest insurance and financial services providers in the United States. Working over a period of 4 months we identified the different capacities part-time professionals and freelancers fulfil in the global workforce. We then set about designing a platform that offered insurance solutions that would specifically cater to this rapidly emerging market. Utilising advanced Drupal 8 technology we built a platform that is more dynamic and effective in providing insurance solutions which suit business professionals of the modern era.
Result
Quotes are delivered in less than 10 minutes in comparison with the standard 2-3 day wait time. We’ve also received a great deal of interest in the backend technology of PTProCover. As a result MRD has started licensing part of this innovative technology to third parties.

Just do it (yourself), one project at a time
The Challenge
Holland’s DIY specialist, Praxis’ core commitment is to always be there for the makers. They believe that everyone can build, make and create. To make people believe that they have the potential for creating, Praxis needed to motivate them and show them how easy it is to DIY. Showing an experienced handyman building stuff has been done multiple times, but those video's age quite fast. How could we make DIY look as simple as possible?
Our Solution
We collaborated with multiple DIY experts to create scripts and step-by-step instructions. We then translated the scripts into voice-overs that would be helpful even without any imagery. We then created multiple 3D animations of various DIY step-by-steps to have the freedom of turning the camera and showing the progress from every angle. We simplified the steps by animating every detail of materials and tools used. By showing a real life render of the end result, users have a clear view of how their DIY project should look.
Through this process we managed to take complicated DIY jobs and turn them into simple and consumable step-by-step instructions.

SidelineSwap - Where athletes buy and sell their gear
In 2012, a group of former college athletes realised how difficult it was to find high-quality used sports gear online with no dedicated e-commerce platforms available. This created the desire to create SidelineSwap - an e-commerce platform that supported the sports community by making previously owned sports gear more affordable and available. They also wanted to connect athletes with each other via this platform. Their key challenge was they had a great idea but they lacked the know-how to realise their dream.

Clevergig - The #1 SaaS WFM solution
We built a cloud-based Software as a Service solution, with a highly scalable micro-service based front-end and back-end.
As an agency that promotes international engagement, a dedicated sprint team operating out of Amsterdam, Kiev and Geneva held daily stand ups and utilized software support tools to ensure seamless execution of the project.
The team held both heavy-weight tech and marketing expertise, working together to design and develop an app, a website and an online marketing program for the MVP launch.
The project was delivered on time and in the budget.
Using an agile development process with continuous delivery each sprint cycle, along with direct validation and user testing allowed for optimal team and project performance.
Co-creation with trial customers made us fortunate to optimise usability and functionality in real time, ensuring that clevergig is the best usable HR solution.
On a technical level, the focus was on platform openness. With Public API, developers are able to build own custom functionalities.
On performance, scalability & security, the combination of AWS Amazon cloud and container infrastructure (Docker) allowed us to handle traffic spikes, protect data from external threats, and be smart about infra budget, to keep clevergig affordable. The micro-services architecture keeps components small and independent from each other. On engineering level it makes talent on-boarding & team scaling fast and efficient. Machine learning makes the platform capable of analyzing customer data for workforce optimization.

HEINEKEN AI-powered retail marketing automation
1. A multi-purpose application that allows to configure consumer facing loyalty campaign initiatives, including but not limited to rewards and cash refund campaigns. In collaboration with Triple (wearetriple.nl).
2. An innovative and multi-purpose Image Processing and Optical Character and Image Recognition solution that extracts the data from images of both rolled and A4 receipts. This is accomplished with proprietary AI technology and a matching algorithm using a neural network. We have carefully created an algorithm to calculate the cashback per consumer based on the various campaign rules and the actual price of the purchased product.
3. A customised web portal has been developed to manage campaign rules and view the results of the image processing, with the ability to manually correct the system.
The platform also helps brand managers, marketers and business stakeholders to collect relevant consumer data, understand purchasing behaviour, promote new and existing Heineken products directly to consumers, and ultimately ensures purchases.
This intuitive, user-friendly platform transforms a manual and therefore slow process into one that is nimble and simple to use while closing the gap between consumers’ expectations and company marketing intentions by applying the latest Artificial Intelligence technology and sophisticated OCR and image processing capabilities.
Since the launch of the product, 30.000+ receipts were successfully processed over the first 3 campaigns, boasting an automatic correct recognition judgement rate around 80%.
Considerable cost-savings were also made at Heineken, by reducing internal handling and processing costs by more than 90%, as well as external third party commissions for affiliate marketplaces.
Heineken is 100% in control of all campaign related data all the while staying fully compliant with European GDPR regulations.

HEINEKEN Drinkies Voice Commerce
WeAreBrain has teamed up with HEINEKEN Netherlands to create an exciting new Voice skill functionality to their Heineken Drinkies beer ordering app. Now you can order beer anywhere, anytime through a sophisticated Voice application using Google Assistant via mobile or smart home devices. Smart Speakers boom
Currently, the Smart Home market share in the Netherlands is estimated at $900m and is expected to grow to $1.7 billion by 2023. With Heineken Drinkies being available on Google Assistant and Smart Speakers it has opened up a new market, allowing for larger distribution with reduced marketing spend. Added to this, there is little competition in this new area yet. It is therefore easier to promote, as opposed to traditional app and online channels.

Maxeda Voordemakers platform
Challenge
WeAreBrain has worked with Maxeda since our inception, and over the years we have produced a number of successful products and projects together. At the outset, the challenge that Maxeda faced was that they were excellent at traditional DIY but didn’t have the knowledge or expertise to take their in-store experience online. They didn’t just want to create a landing page for their business, they wanted to digitise the retail experience.
Solution
WeAreBrain played a major role in creating a brand new platform to sell products for Maxeda.
WeAreBrain facilitated the setup and coaching of a nearshore development team focussed on building new online services, integrating with the company’s existing ERP and retail solutions (website and app).
We created a way for existing users to use the new platform using their existing accounts. We implemented a dynamic search tool into their new webshop and integrated soft content with the product catalogue. Now the new and improved e-commerce platform has completely replaced the old one and is being used continuously to sell Maxeda products.

HEINEKEN - Chatbot e-learning solutions
Challenge
How do you educate external sales and support teams about your products if they do not work directly with your business? For example, how do you inform and incentivise barmen to promote your brand above your competitors, or other sales agents operating in indirect channels? HEINEKEN Netherlands, together with Greenberry creative agency, have created a concept for a series of mobile games in which players learn about products while playing and competing with their colleagues. To make the games more accessible, they can be played via Facebook messenger. The challenge for WeAreBrain was twofold: Create a templated chatbot solution to support the core e-learning game rules, and; Allow the content creators to create multiple gamified e-learning challenges for different products in a user-friendly CMS backend.
Solution
We developed a game template with gamification rules which includes: game scenarios, scores, multimedia support, multiple player roles and push notifications. We also created a custom user-friendly CMS to create new games for various products with the ability to customise the look and feel of the marketing material such as landing pages.
We created an innovative onboarding process ensuring participation by invite only, by connecting multiple user roles using web portals, including Whatsapp invite and Facebook Messenger. Real-time insights through the custom web portal are available, allowing the marketing managers to track participation and scores. We created a control to send push notifications to individual players or to groups of players to motivate participation.

HEINEKEN Chatbot Event Management Platform
Organising an event is hard work. It’s like a jigsaw puzzle that you need to put together to ensure that everything goes perfectly and when you get all the pieces in place you are likely to have an incredible event but sometimes things don’t go according to plan. Imagine you could get help with communicating your event to a wide audience, and managing ticket sales and finding venues which allow for a specific number of attendees? Wouldn’t that make putting an event together so much easier?
WeAreBrain created an exciting Event Bot - a powerful and dynamic solution that addresses all of this and much more, through a super smart Facebook Messenger chatbot. Our Event Bot can organise and manage your guest list and let you know who is attending and who has to cancel last minute via signups. You can get into the party spirit by listening to Spotify playlists, and you can also pre-book a taxi and plan your route to and from the event - we don’t want you drinking and driving!
You can even organise your own event with our Event Bot. Just tell the bot your party requirements, including food, drinks, decorations and more, and the bot, through the Heineken NOW service, will deliver your order right to your house in just 30 minutes!
With an efficient and user-friendly registration via a mobile webapp, event hosts are able to register visitors easily. And with transparent event reporting in a custom webportal powered by Tur.ai, event organisers are able to witness the effectiveness of their event and venue in real time.

HEINEKEN - Predictive sales and marketing assistant
Challenge
The global events world is constantly changing and the competition is great. Before you know it, another festival, an innovative conference or a new event is planned that you should not miss. But how do you keep track of which events are coming up? Can you guarantee that your sales and marketing teams know exactly where the biggest commercial opportunities lie, who the organiser is, and which event is best connected to your brand? And how do you best predict the volume and expected revenue of a sales opportunity? What if you had all this information in real time, and much more?
Solution
WeAreBrain has developed SmartSpy, an AI-driven digital sales and marketing assistant that notifies you of new sales opportunities. Through customised automated processes and innovative software, SmartSpy searches the internet for upcoming events and presents the information in a format which makes it easy to assess their potential sales opportunities. Through a web portal, users are able to view the collected event information in a structured and clear format, with email notifications sent to alert sales managers of new opportunities. SmartSpy uses predictive analytics to forecast potential sales opportunities based on a number of predefined criteria.
Result
SmartSpy has a highly impressive timeline of implementation, with a high number of events searched in the first month of testing. The web portal’s user interface is impressive, intuitive and easy to understand.

HEINEKEN - AI-powered procurement automation
Challenge
The process for new official vendor requests was fragmented and cumbersome. It involved multiple complex Excel forms without validations and a process which needed to be driven by the requestor, who was usually unaware of all the necessary steps involved. The use of offline forms to collect vendor information caused manual validation issues and multiple data reentries. This inefficient and lengthy process caused low percentages of first-time-right requests. Furthermore, the unguided process caused long lead-times and delayed deliveries of the products and services in demand.
Solution
We developed an intuitive workbot called Harry which serves as an Enterprise Virtual Assistant to new and established HEINEKEN vendors to assist them with making new procurement orders more quickly and efficiently. Additionally, a new digital business process was created, one which is now orchestrated by the system. Harry is able to track each individual request and ensures that all participants are guided through each step of the process.
Harry helps employees successfully perform each task in the process, including: starting the request, the procurement to process the request in the most efficient way, supporting and guiding the vendors to fill in their data correctly and checking it with sources like DUNS and IBAN, and helping the controllers with the correct data in the correct format.
We introduced an eSignature solution, saving time and paper for vendors. Additionally, Harry has the 'face' of a chatbot running as a custom, web-based chat interface that runs on the existing SharePoint and uses existing Active Directory to identify the users. Harry comes with a likeable avatar character, instantly becoming a virtual colleague everyone can relate to.
For some of the required steps we have used other user interfaces and channels to offer the most optimal user experience, such as online forms, emails and a secured web portal.
Reviews
the project
Web & Intelligence Database Dev for Strategic Content Firm
"They were always recommending things over and above the actual project, on other aspects of our business."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
Ginkgo is a strategic content format agency. Ginkgo creates and executes a wide range of content from biographical exposé to documentary journalism and brand content. I am a director at Ginkgo.
What challenge were you trying to address with WeAreBrain?
Beautiful News is a global independent editorial platform that releases one short film telling a positive story every day of the year. We wanted to create a user-friendly website with multiple features and functionality. We needed to attract multiple audiences to engage with Beautiful News.
What was the scope of their involvement?
We provided a brief and from this WeAreBrain defined the scope and a project team was involved from the beginning to end. They used our existing brand CI and interpreted it into the front end website design. They created the UI/Front end design as well as the back end tech and database design. They also set up the hosting and email integration and provided CMS training and documentation. They even went the extra mile and provided an app at no cost. They continue to provide ongoing maintenance for our websites.
What is the team composition?
We worked with Mario (Co-Founder), Tetiana (Project Manager), and Sergey (Tech Lead), as well as their technical team.
How did you come to work with WeAreBrain?
We were recommended by a colleague who had worked with them at her previous company. We worked with Mario and his team previously on our original Beautiful News South Africa Website, as well as our Ginkgo Agency Website. Both of these projects were a great success, and they were therefore an obvious choice for the bigger Beautiful News Global Website project.
How much have you invested with them?
We spent €30,000 (approximately $35,600 USD).
What is the status of this engagement?
We first started working with WeAreBrain in 2017, and have worked with them on various projects since then.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
We have been measuring audience engagement and audience growth since launch and have seen a great improvement.
How did WeAreBrain perform from a project management standpoint?
They were very good. Our project manager, Tetiana, was very efficient, even though there were certain language barriers. She created a project plan and managed deadlines and although there were some delays that were mainly from our side, we made our target launch date. Their team has been very responsive and accommodating to our requests. They used online communication and approval systems such as Slack which were very effective.
What did you find most impressive about them?
They are very professional and go the extra mile. Even though it is expensive for us in South Africa to pay in Euro's, I feel that we receive a lot of extra, added value. Mario has often given proactive advice or ideas on other aspects of our business. They even built an App for us at no cost! The projects have been well-structured and well managed in a collaborative way. They are also all really nice people to work with, which makes a big difference.
Are there any areas they could improve?
I think that a maintenance proposal could have been included/scoped in the original proposal. Sometimes the language barrier gives rise to confusion.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
I think I have said it all. They are professional and go the extra mile. They will be your partner and trusted advisor.
the project
Community Portal for Business Education Foundation
"They are highly professional and always exhibit a cooperative spirit."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
Our foundation is a transformer in business education, located in Switzerland
For what projects/services did your company hire WeAreBrain, and what were your goals?
We wanted to create a meeting space for changemakers, featuring a number of elements including a community, a helpdesk, a consultant page, tools, course overviews and more
How did you select WeAreBrain and what were the deciding factors?
Mario Grunitz was an incredible partner in defining what we wanted and his amazing team did an incredible job in translating our vision into concrete and workable segments that were implemented in a highly professional manner
Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.
After defining the scope, WeareBrain put together a project team with a project leader who managed the complex 1.5 year development process into clear segments with dedicated outcomes and deliverables. The team used a large list of associated and tailor-made technical solutions and found ways to integrate these seemlessly.
How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?
the owner, the project manager and occassional a tech persons.
Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?
The website was successfully soft-launched and then also launched, additional features were added as new needs emerged. We are extremely happy with the quality of the work delivered and the cooperation of the team.
Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.
Mentioned above
What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?
They are highly professional and always exhibit a cooperative spirit.
Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?
Not that I can think of.
the project
Custom Online Platform Dev for Insurance Intermediary
"Their transparency and communication are great."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the founder & CEO of RiskDesk, an insurance intermediary. We deliver insurance solutions and products provided by partnerships with insurance companies that our customers, the policyholders, purchase.
What challenge were you trying to address with WeAreBrain?
We have a couple of different distribution funnels. One that I was particularly interested in was a direct to consumer business or distribution funnel whereby a prospective customer can access an insurance product through an online platform.
I needed someone to develop that online platform.
What was the scope of their involvement?
The team developed our custom online platform. From a technology perspective, all we did was rework the process flow a little bit. The first iteration of the solution was a combination of the off-the-shelf technology solutions, a framework they had in place, and customer development software. They put everything together, using the LAMP tech stack, and we collaborated on it. They were able to understand my requirements very quickly.
There’s an opportunity for a mobile app, but we were just focused on that MVP for now. The first iteration wrapped up in August 2018. We just finished another iteration of the platform that represented a product shop expansion. We integrated another insurance solution into the platform.
Without going into too much detail, the core platform is kind of geared towards part-time, freelance, independent contractors who provide services to clients. In the event that they get sued, this insurance product covers them. It’s also referred to as malpractice or professional liability insurance. That was the original product that was backed by Nationwide.
The most recent iteration of what we did with them was we expanded to include cyber liability in an event the small business gets a breach or ransomware attack or wire transfer fraud, that insurance product will cover those types of losses. We integrated that product into the online platform too.
There was a bunch of other sorts of maintenance items that we were working on and minor upgrades as well. The next set of projects or initiatives that I have is another product shop expansion and another project that I’m waiting to get the green light on. We’d use the same framework but apply it to a completely different brand and product.
What is the team composition?
I initially collaborated with Mario (Co-Founder). Then I was in contact with the project manager. There was also one day-to-day developer. There were two or three other individuals that were involved in the project including a QA person and a scrum master.
How did you come to work with WeAreBrain?
We had a mutual contact who introduced me to them. I spoke to a couple of different vendors and went through a vendor selection process. We selected WeAreBrain because of their understanding of the insurance industry, their understanding of my requirements, and their understanding of the platform’s requirements.
They did their homework, drilling it down to an MVP type solution.
How much have you invested with them?
The project cost $75,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
Our ongoing engagement with WeAreBrain started in April 2018.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
The primary objective that I had going into collaboration with them as I needed to see the purchasing process from a customer’s perspective from start to finish. That meant I’m going to take the insurer’s product, integrate it into the platform, the customer can access the website, enter their data variables, the quote is returned, and they can execute on that quote by providing additional policyholder information, reviewing the legal terms, processing payment, and receiving a policy.
The number one success metric was if it worked or not. While there have been some bugs, 99 out of 100 times, it’s worked for our customers. That’s exactly what we needed.
The other element is how invested I felt they were into my success. Once the first development iteration had concluded in August 2018, I kept coming back to them and telling them what didn’t work or issues I came across. They were more than willing to take a look at those issues and help correct them. Even if it wasn’t a bug and represented a minor upgrade or change from the original scope, they set aside time and tried to work through that with us.
They were giving back to us rather than telling us the development effort has concluded and if we want something else they’re charging us. I wouldn’t be objective but it felt like they wanted to see the success of our platform.
The biggest success metric is the ROI on the actual software investment. We monetize our services through the sale of an insurance policy. Through that sale, that’s how we generate revenue and pay for the expenses. The biggest challenge that we’ve had is trying to get this to scale. It’s more of a social and SEO type of question or a strategic partnership type of questions where we have multiple funnels that provide traffic for business to this insurance solution. It’s something we’re working to optimize.
How did WeAreBrain perform from a project management standpoint?
In terms of communication and transparency, I recognize that there was quite a language barrier. Their project manager did have excellent English skills. The developer took ongoing English courses to improve his language skills. From the offset, we all sat down together in-person and discussed some of the requirements.
One of the requirements on my end was communication is critical, and if you have a question, just ask it. If you don’t understand something that I’m saying or I don’t understand what you’re saying, we just have to address that. We operated in a very transparent and open environment, which sets us up for a successful partnership.
When things weren’t going well or we had delays and missed a deadline, it didn’t come out of the blue. Everyone was aware of it. There was a heads-up. The original 3–4-month timeframe, we pretty much got everything in place that we aimed to achieve. Even though they did their homework and understood the requirements, there were certain tasks or parts to the project that were underestimated, and they missed a deadline. In the long-run, it didn’t impact the ultimate result.
When we sat down to scope out the requirements, we established a week-by-week, day-to-day kind of approach on how we wanted to address and handle the project. We had daily standup calls, and at the end of the week, there was always a demo.
While we established something on day one, at the end of the project, we revisited the process to see if there’s a better approach to help everyone. They were willing to make adjustments. In the next development iteration, we took a slightly different approach. We didn’t have daily standups. We didn’t feel it was necessary.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Their transparency and communication are great. We established a trustworthy relationship between the different individuals and the parties, which was important to me.
Are there any areas they could improve?
There were some missed deadlines. It didn’t have an impact on the overall success, and it’s clearly a function of this being a new project to them in a new industry. We had open communication about it.
The other element was on the SEO and marketing side. They provide some good intel into it. I would’ve liked to have seen more active involvement. Part of it may have been outside the scope of the project, but some of those SEO initiatives tend to be low-hanging fruit and some guidelines they could’ve at least provided.
They could take more of an initiative of recognizing it’s an online platform and how to improve on Google with keywords rather than having to figure it out ourselves.
the project
Platform Development for Healthcare Digital Solution
"Their leadership and transparency stood out to us."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
Founder of TheOptimal.me, a digital solution for people 50+ that helps mitigate the negative effects of ageing, sitting and stress.
For what projects/services did your company hire WeAreBrain?
WeAreBrain was selected to develop our custom-built SaaS video streaming platform with native website and iOS and Android apps. The biggest challenge was developing a user-friendly UX for our 50+ target audience. We required both technical & UX design services. We provide content flows and visual design inputs.
What were your goals for this project?
The platform needed to be accessible - working on any device, any time, anywhere. Audiences with lower bandwidth needed to have a good experience, it needed to be adopted for specific UX requirements and privacy concerns. The platform needed to be scalable, secure to allow e-comm and payments through Stripe and PayPal, compliant with PCI & GDPR requirements.
Added to this, we needed to create an affordable MVP using off-the-shelf technology solutions. The architecture needed to be flexible allowing vertical extensions into e-comm, a B2B offering and other on-demand services. Our team had limited experience and needed to find an experienced and trustworthy partner for our build.
How did you select this vendor?
We had identified a business whose offering was in a totally different category, but had similar capabilities. Senior team members at WeAreBrain had worked on this project and were recommended to us. We had high-level discussions with 3 companies, and whilst WeAreBrain's estimates were slightly higher, they way out-scored the other vendors in terms of thinking, strategy, experience.
Most importantly, they LISTENED to our brief, as opposed to proposing a totally different model and offering they thought would be better. The Board of Directors unanimously agreed with their selection.
Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.
We provided the basic requirements from a consumer perspective, and all content follows. WeAreBrain took our initial design and provided a full 360 service: Web & App design and development, including selection of fit-for-purpose off-the-shelf technology, custom CMS, UX & a level of visual design.
They became and are an integral partner for TheOptimal.me. They continue to provide consulting services at executive level, from technology to e-comm and digital marketing. One of the most pleasing aspects of working with the team is that new releases / updates very seldom have bugs and problems, and in fact, throughout the build, we have been hugely impressed with the almost seamless and robust process the tech team delivers against.
What was the team composition?
The team has varied over time, depending on the resource and expertise needed in various phases. Initially a small team built the web MVP, and changed when the App build began. WeAreBrain has been flexible and responsive, depending on our needs.
Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?
TheOptimal.me is a new offering and is creating a new category. We were extremely proud when the platform was selected a finalist in the 2019 Drupal Awards. We are only getting started, but WeAreBrain will continue as our technology partner for the foreseeable future. We are constantly complimented on our site, our UX, and the ease of use.
How was project management arranged and how effective was it?
At the start, as newcomers to building technology, our team wasn't very efficient in terms of review, and we went a few rounds before we learnt that we needed to take a far more robust approach to approvals, as opposed to getting excited about how beautiful things looked.
We found ways to overcome the language barrier without impact on workflow and over time, our team communications have worked effectively on Slack and other approval platforms. The team have been very responsive to urgent needs and fixes, and after a few initial hiccups on timing, have delivered against reasonable deadlines, within budget.
What did you find most impressive about this company?
Their leadership and transparency stood out to us. At an executive level we have been able to communicate openly and honestly to find solutions to problems, and to map out next steps. There will always be small issues to overcome, especially at a project management level, when language and culture aren't always the same. But these have been overcome with humour and patience.
Mario has become a trusted advisor, and the team always have our best interests at heart. From a financial perspective, I believe we have had and continue to receive great value for our spend. Most importantly, the company culture is one of living in the extra mile.
Are there any areas for improvement?
The one area I would say there is room for improvement is in the day to day comms a project management level - this is partly due to language differences - but the effort put into reducing misunderstandings has been excellent.
the project
Marketplace & Job Board for Professional Services Company
"They deliver what they promise and if there are any hick-ups they tell it straight away and try to get it fixed."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
We operate a niche job board and marketplace for the professional services sector. Via our platforms, you can search for jobs and professional service providers in the professional services industry. I am the founder and owner of the company.
For what projects/services did your company hire WeAreBrain?
Back in 2015/2016, I came up with a business idea for my current business, but I had zero experience in web development. A friend of mine recommended WeAreBrain and after some further market research, I decided to hire them. They built my online marketplace (and later on my job board) from scratch and since then I have been using WeAreBrain on a continuous basis for new development activities, further improvements, and maintenance types of activities.
What were your goals for this project?
I had a business idea and WeAreBrain translated this idea to building a full-blown platform thereby taking into account all sorts of technical aspects like database choice, responsive design, mobile-friendly, payment infrastructure, and also the web design aspects.
How did you select this vendor?
A friend recommended them and after that, I did some further market research
Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.
They designed, developed, configured, and launched my online marketplace from scratch. I wrote my business idea in a 50+ page business paper and they translated this to workflows and wireframes. Once we approved the workflows and wireframes, actual production began in the form of 2-week sprints. In the meantime, functional versions were ready for user testing and feedback. Key improvements were also made during each sprint thanks to helpful suggestions from the development team.
What was the team composition?
The project team existed of about 6 people, but certain individuals would come and go depending on the skills needed. The project manager stayed involved on a continuous basis while he did a great job of translating business ideas to the technical team and vice versa.
Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?
My platform was launched in April 2016 and since then it has been operational on a continuous basis without any bugs or technical fallouts.
How was project management arranged and how effective was it?
Project management was top of the bill. Clear and fast communication, deadlines were always met and budget was monitored and communicated on a regular basis. I would not know what to improve here.
What did you find most impressive about this company?
They deliver what they promise and if there are any hick-ups they tell it straight away and try to get it fixed without any additional fees. Short and fast communication lines. The owners of the company are also personally involved and they take the time to think with you and come up with valuable suggestions and improvements.
Are there any areas for improvement?
Could not think of any.
the project
Web Development for Sporting Goods Marketplace
"The Brain team stood out because they understood the problem we were trying to solve, and how we aimed to solve it."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
SidelineSwap is an online marketplace where people buy and sell sporting goods.
For what projects/services did your company hire WeAreBrain?
Initial website development, including allowing users to create accounts, list products for sale, search / browse, chat, purchase, and track their orders. Ongoing website maintenance, including bug fixes, new feature development, and supporting growth as we scaled.
What were your goals for this project?
Provide a best in class, mobile-first marketplace experience for buyers and sellers in the sporting goods category.
How did you select this vendor?
After working with several vendors, we selected Brain4Web based on a strong referral and satisfactory conversations with their team. We continued to work with Brain for 7+ years because of the quality of their engineering team and product development.
Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.
- Software engineering
- Some product management
What was the team composition?
At most times we've leverage 1 - 4 resources to supplement our in-house teams. For special projects, we've scaled up to as many as 10 engineers, product managers, and designers.
Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?
Brain played a critical role in the success of our business. They allowed us to quickly and affordably launch our product, and then scale while maintaining a great user experience through rapid agile development cycles. We currently support millions of users and were ranked the 13th fastest growing marketplace in the world in 2019 by venture fund a16z.
How was project management arranged and how effective was it?
A project manager on our team works closely with the Brain team (typically engineers, but sometimes a PM on their end as well.) We work in 2 week sprints. We leverage many collaboration tools, including Slack, Jira, Confluence, GitHub, Google Hangouts, etc. All teams communicate effectively in English. Time zones are rarely a blocker (Boston / Kiev).
What did you find most impressive about this company?
The Brain team stood out because they understood the problem we were trying to solve, and how we aimed to solve it. They are not just a software development shop, they've been excellent partners who provide thoughtful feedback as we execute on our vision. And are always highly accountable and trustworthy throughout any project.
Are there any areas for improvement?
Nothing noteworthy.
the project
Development for Shipping & Deliveries Company
"Their speed and their attitude were impressive — the speed of their work is limited by your speed only!"
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
ishipit.nl is a platfom for delivery gigs. Companies can hire "shippers" per hour (for a number of hours). Main target currently: delivery restaurants, soon also retail. Complex fiscal rulings in place preventing "shippers" having to declare VAT and having to register @ Chamber of Commerce. My role is founder and investor
For what projects/services did your company hire WeAreBrain?
WAB: delvelopped all from scrach: API, native mobile (shipper) apps, web app (mobile coming) for merchants, etc.
What were your goals for this project?
Develop 1.0 platform from scratch while pilotting and being able o adjust development roadmap quickly based on day-2-day learnings and experiences. Maintain budgets, and quickly shift resources (monthly) based on chaging requirements! Never exceed budget!
How did you select this vendor?
We worked with a different development company earlier. A "befriended" development company even. However communication, performance, quality of output was not in line with demands. Almost a year we made the drastic decision to start all over again and do a complete write-off of the old platform. We selected WAB based on talks we had with another client of WAB whose platform we were considering to use as a temporary solution. We expercienced first hand the level of quality of WAB. That made us decide to try to come to an agreement ourselves with WAB. The rest is history.............
Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.
The project consisted of creation (100%) of: 1. API 2. web (mobile soon) portal for merchants 3. mobile (native) apps for shippers 4. admin control panel A tremendous amount of business rules are applicable as well as many business settings and filers in order for merchans to find the perfect shippers (including favourites, blacklisting, automated or manual selection, fines for late cancelation, ec). All finance and invoicing is handled via the platform in line with Dutch regulations! Soon we will integrate pay-per-use insurances as well additional services will be provided!
What was the team composition?
2 fte backend developers 2 fte mobile developers 1 fte product owner 0,5 fte project manager 0,5 fte Q&A + myself (product owner) => the size of the team as described above is flexible. Whenever in a monh there are more backend related taks, the budget is moved a such. Total flexibility!
Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?
We have a working platform functioning better then expected and was developed in line with set budgets and timelines. This platform IS our business and is therefore not meant to optimize certain parts. Currently we are adding some more features and then will start to scale up quickly. Our platform is ready.
How was project management arranged and how effective was it?
I worked on a dail base with Ana Gritsenko, a Business Analyst, Product Owner and UI designer in 1 single person. Per month we defined the roadmap (requirments, urgency, team, budget) and together we defined to reflect requirments from an automation point of view. Anastasia created all wireframing, described all usecases into detail and once agreed I merely (most of the times) could only agree and provide text (easy). She then briefed the dev team (daily stand up).
What did you find most impressive about this company?
Their speed and their attitude were impressive — the speed of their work is limited by your speed only!
Are there any areas for improvement?
none (really)
the project
E-Commerce Development for French Kids Concept Store
"Their organization and efficient structure stood out."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
MyTinyStars is a leading French Kids Concept Store known as Les Petites Barboteuses. As the founder and CEO of the company I am responsible for the entire product selection and branding of our online and retail presence.
For what projects/services did your company hire WeAreBrain?
We hired WeAreBrain to develop our new online identity and e-commerce webshop for the MyTinyStars label.
What were your goals for this project?
We were looking for an experienced, reliable and affordable e-commerce partner to build our new platform for the new season.
How did you select this vendor?
We conducted a lot of online research and WeAreBrain came recommended.
Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.
- Onboarding workshops - Design workshops - Requirements documentation - Website development - Migration - Graphic Design
What was the team composition?
Team Lead Developer Designer Tester Graphic Designer
Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?
MyTinyStars will officially launch in Q4 and is our first international label outside of our homemarket in France.
How was project management arranged and how effective was it?
I had a dedicated project lead and we communicated daily via Slack.
What did you find most impressive about this company?
Their organization and efficient structure stood out.
Are there any areas for improvement?
The Graphic Design output could potentially be faster.
The site has garnered metrics and statistics that please the client and serve as evidence of WeAreBrain's high-quality work. Their adherence to deadlines stands out, as did their professional project management. Future clients will encounter a prompt partner with wide-ranging consulting expertise.