Meet Gander
The Social Media You Want, Built in Canada
Fun, private, and ethical. We're changing the way social media is done around here, all without your personal data taking an unexpected trip down south.
Our Vision
Socials That'll
Make You Smile
A feed you control, data privacy you can trust, and tools to spot trolls before they ruin your day. All hosted in Canada. We're building social media that doesn't make you want to throw your phone into a lake.
Your feed. Your rules.
Want to see what's happening in Calgary before Cleveland? Done. Prefer video and stories over text? No problem. A feed that puts content that matters to you front and centre.
Videos, stories and pins, oh my.
Prefer videos? Cool. Rather read? Also cool. Switch between classic posts and full-screen content with a tap, and save your mind from meltdown with algorithms that aren't designed to play with your dopamine.
Local content with context.
Found a cool local event? Great - here's what it sounds like, looks like, and where to find it. No more hopping between apps to piece together the basics. Because context shouldn't be a scavenger hunt.
Find your people.
Smart suggestions that don't require stalking. Find creators, communities, and conversations you'll love, based on what you're actually interested in - not who's hiding in your phone's contact list. Because good recommendations don't need to be creepy.
Bias-checks and troll-hunting, built-in.
See where your news comes from and who's behind it. Our built-in tools show you bias ratings, source credibility, and fact-check results - so you can decide what makes sense to you.
As Seen In...
Data Privacy
Standing on Guard for Thee
(and thy data)
Designed, built and owned in Canada
Supporting Canadian tech and Canadian jobs - no foreign owners or overseas interests. Just Canadians building better social.
Your data stays here, with us
In an uncertain digital world, location matters. With Gander, your data is hosted on Canadian servers and protected by Canadian laws.
Data privacy. For reals.
No tracking across the web. No surveillance. No selling your data. That's it - that's the privacy policy. Social media doesn't have to be creepy.
Roadmap
Building in the open
with transparency
Follow our progress as we build Gander step by step. We believe in transparency and accountability, so here's what we've accomplished and what's coming next.
Q1 2025
Proof of concept complete
Early build w/ Canadian-filtered content from AT Proto firehose
Marketing + Early Access launched
Landing page, social media and early access waitlist launched
Q2 2025
Pre-seed/friends and family fundraising
Funding for MVP build
Core team + advisors established
Cross-functional team in civic tech, product, security, privacy, media ethics
Ethical standards research underway
Exploration of Canadian Charter, B-corp, and other policy/governance standards
Sovereign cloud partnership established
Partnered with ThinkOn (Toronto) for Canadian-based platform hosting
MVP design complete
Core design + elements for beta and public releases
User research/testing/participatory design strategy underway
Exploration of community-based user research and testing
Public benefit company incorporated
Preliminary board, governance, and public benefit statement
Q3 2025
Development Sprint 1 complete
UI build for Sign In and Sign On
Development Sprint 2 complete
UI build for For You and Posts
Pre-seed/friends and family fundraising complete
MVP funding closed
Q4 2025
Development Sprint 3 complete
UI build for Boards and Feeds
Development Sprint 4 complete
API Integrations, UI Build for Chat
Closed Beta underway
Testing with select group of early access participants
Backlog Grooming
Grooming and prioritization of features and bugs
Q1 2026
Chat features added
One-on-one chat with request approvals
Early access program closed
Waitlist opened
Feature refinement
Iteration and expansion of core features
Video features added
Support for wide and vertical video
Closed Beta complete
Feedback from closed beta participants
Expanded Beta opened
Tests with external test groups
Equity crowdfunding closed
FrontFundr campaign ends
Launch Feature Optimization
Grooming and prioritization of features and bugs
Early Access Program onboarded
All members invited to create accounts
MVP build complete
Base app build with core features: build 'nest' of friends, Canadian content feeds, Flicks (reels), save posts to boards, chat, groups, and more
Q2 2026
Expanded Beta closed
Feedback from external test participants
Invite access opens
Sustainable growth phases to balance demand and stability
Meet the Team
Flying in formation
for better socials from Canada
Meet the passionate and talented founders, advisors, and partners helping hit the reset button on social media.
Core Team
Ben Waldman
CEO & Product Director
The Art Department, Field Effect, bv02, Clicko
Jennifer Mitchell
Chief Operating Officer
ActZero, Wren Insight Group, IntelliGO
Stirling Coulter-Hayward
Head of Communications
Refugee 613, MCC Canada, Royal Canadian Mint
Jeff Wood
Chief Technology Officer
Veritree, MindGeek, Guild Software
Dominira Saul
User Research Lead
DFFRNT, University of Ottawa, You.i TV, Akendi
Stuart Waldman
Lead Product Manager
The Art Department, WOW Academy, Telus
Akshat Shah
Developer
Stealth Mode, Persuasive Computing, Ozone API
Katie Dawson
Product Manager
Buffer Festival
Strategic Advisors
Catherine Tait
Advisor, Media Acquisition
New_Public, CBC/Radio Canada, Global Task Force for Public Media
Blaine Cook
Advisor, Open Protocols
Twitter, Poetica, Condé Nast, New_Public
Taylor Owen
Advisor, Media Ethics
Machines Like Us; The Centre for Media, Technology & Democracy
Peter Dinsdale
Advisor, Social Partnerships
YMCA Canada, CSA Group, Assembly of First Nations
Kwame McKenzie
Advisor, Equity & Marginalized Communities
Wellesley Institute, CAMH, World Health Organization
Faud Khan
Advisor, Cyber Secuity
TwelveDot, Standards Council of Canada, Alcatel-Lucent
Boris Mann
Advisor, AT Protocol
Z-Space, PROXXI, Fission, Finhaven
Geoff Green
Advisor, Civic Engagement
Students on Ice, Canada C3, Ottawa Riverkeeper
George Kyriakis
Advisor, Partner Strategies
Freshbooks, Microsoft, Think & Grow
Jocelin Caldwell
Advisor, Talent Aquisition
Reimagine Work, Paidia Gaming, Argo Blockchain
Friends of Gander
Technology Partnerships
Sovereign Cloud
User Research and Testing
Equity Crowdfunding
Creator Partnerships
Finance & Accounting
Early Access
Early Bird Gets the @username
Join us early to grab your username before someone else does, help shape our creator tools, and get first dibs on the beta. Plus, you'll get to say "I was here before it was cool" - and mean it.
Get Updates
FAQ
Curious?
Glad to hear it
Browse our FAQs for the quick stuff, or email formation@gandersocial.ca for everything else (including media inquiries). We're real humans who actually respond - promise.
We're currently beelining to our beta launch. There's no public-ly available app just yet—but we've got it in our hands as a team, all while building fast and transparently, with our closed beta targeted for November/December of 2025. If you sign up for early access, you'll be among the first to hear updates and may be invited to test features, give feedback, and help shape the future of the platform.
Beta testers not only see new features and prototypes first but also get to weigh in on how they evolve. Your input will help us build Gander into something more practical, more ethical, and more fun for everyone.
Yes! Signing up now gives you priority access to register their account username once the system goes live. We'll notify early supporters before public registration opens.
At launch, we're focusing on short-form text posts, images, video, and shared links.
Over time we’ll layer in features to help people understand and interpret what they’re seeing — not just react to it — all while making sure we stay grounded in Canadian laws and standards.
Gander is being built in Canada, hosted on Canadian servers, and architected to respect your data privacy by default. No surveillance-based ads. No selling your data.
No dark patterns. Ever.
We're adhering to Canadian data privacy laws, and working with some of the sharpest minds in cyber security to protect your data from unauthorized access.
Gander is built on the AT Protocol, the same open, decentralized foundation used by Bluesky. This means you'll be able to connect with others within the broader AT Protocol Atmosphere, or choose to stick to Gander's own network.
That's up to you.
Gander will work alongside Bluesky's Atmosphere (the broader, international network of social media servers), so you can choose to consume content, publish, and connect with people from anywhere, or decide to stick just to Gander's own network.
At first, Gander will largely be made up of Canadian users, but we have no intention of making Gander isolationist, and we will ultimately accept users from all over the Globe.
It's your feed, your choice.
We're exploring how to do verification and community moderation to try and curtail the bulk of it. Is it 100% foolproof? No. But we suspect it will be a far sight better than what we see on existing social media platforms that rely on a growth-at-all-costs model.
We have no interest in fighting an endless AI vs AI battle that we'd probably lose in the long run, so keeping the platform populated with humans will help keep the bulk of bad actors at bay, and good community moderation will help us tackle problems early.
The name Gander is inspired by the town of Gander, Newfoundland, a place that opened its arms to stranded travelers after 9/11, offering shelter, food, and kindness in a moment of global uncertainty. That spirit of warmth, care, and community is at the heart of what we're building.
Gander stands for:
- Digital sovereignty — we're building our policies based on the Canadian Charter, on sovereign Canadian servers
- Healthy discourse — through thoughtful design, not algorithmic chaos
- Ethical tech — no surveillance ads, no dark patterns, no tricks
- Diverse perspectives — space for many voices, without enabling hate
We're designing Gander to be a platform built for people, not solely for engagement metrics. A space to gather, not to divide.
We started this off as a bootstrapped company, supported by our own time investment and the early backing of friends and family.
But since day one, we’ve wanted to find alternative ways of keeping this afloat. Like you, we’re not too keen on what happens to social media when unscrupulous venture capitalists take control.
A couple of months ago, we realized there were no better partners than the Canadians who want this to exist. So, as of October 16, 2025, we launched an investment campaign with FrontFundr, an accredited Canadian equity crowdfunding platform. Check out our campaign if you’d like to join us and own a piece of Gander.
After our Beta launch, we may seek additional impact investment and support from Government programs where possible. Our main goal, though, is to reach sustainability early. That’s why we’re exploring a number of avenues for monetization, including subscriptions for additional features, shared revenue models with creators, and ethical forms of advertising where user control comes first.
Yes. We believe creators deserve better tools and fairer models. Future features will include creativity tools,monetization options, customizable profiles, and privacy-conscious tracking to help you grow without being gamified.
Yes. Gander will launch with a mobile app from day one. A responsive web app will complement the experience, and our goal is to provide a fast, intuitive, mobile-first experience across platforms.
Parts of it, yes. We believe in transparency and community input. As we grow, we plan to open source core elements and support public participation in the platform's governance.
Absolutely. Reach out at formation@gandersocial.ca and we'd be happy to chat or send a media kit.
Absolutely.
We recognize the importance of digital sovereignty, especially for Indigenous communities. We're committed to working with First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities that want to set up and operate their own AT Protocol servers, while providing tools to use Gander in ways that align with their own governance models and values.
Yes.
The Gander UI will be fully bilingual in French and English at launch. We also believe language is key to inclusion and sovereignty. Over time, we plan to engage with First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities to explore integrating more languages into Gander's user interface, guided by community input, consent, and cultural respect.
Yes. Accessibility is a core commitment. Gander will meet or exceed WCAG 2.1 AA standards, ensuring the platform is usable by as many people as possible, including those using assistive technologies.