Cameron Banga, co-founder of 9magnets, LLC, has always loved the friendly and hard-working nature of the Northwest Indiana community. And for the past eight years, he has done his part for the community he loves by providing a reliable and innovative service in the age of technology.
Banga was born in Munster, but was raised in Hobart. He attended Hobart High School, where he was a member of the Quiz Bowl team and played varsity soccer, a sport that he has played for most of his life. After graduating in 2006, Banga moved to Valparaiso, where he has lived for the past 10 years and enrolled in Valparaiso University, where he studied Economics and graduated in 2010, but his career took a different path than he once planned.
“I graduated with a degree in Economics, but I kind of fell into making apps professionally,” Banga said. “Michael Phelps – who I co-founded 9mganets with and is not the professional swimmer – and I got really lucky with making apps and made this app that got really popular back in 2009, while we were still in school.”
When Banga and Phelps graduated that following spring, the app the pair created, Battery Go! had taken off and even became one of the top 100 paid applications that year. So Banga and his business partner decided that creating apps professionally was the right career for them and started their company 9magnets, LLC.
“We knew as we got older it would be much more difficult to start a company, so we started 9magnets after we graduated,” he explained. “All I’ve really known is building software professionally.”
9magnets has created over 150 apps for various businesses, startups, hospitals, and, to Banga’s excitement, professional sports teams, including his favorite team, the Chicago Fire.
“I’ve played soccer for most of my life and the Chicago Fire is my favorite team,” Banga said. “In 2013, we started building their mobile apps for iPhones and Androids, which is really cool for me because they’re my favorite team of anything and I get to make their apps. I remember back around Christmas time, I was looking through some old things and I found my ticket from the first game my parents took me to.”
When Banga isn’t working on software and mobile apps for other companies and organizations, he continues to work on other projects.
“I work probably a little bit too much,” Banga said. “I really turn my hobbies into my work.”
Along with being the co-founder of 9magnets, Banga helped find a company in St. Louis with a friend that makes its own version of an Apple Watch band. The company just went public a few weeks ago.
“I had a lot of issues with the watch bands that Apple makes,” Banga explained. “So we went to a manufacturer, procured bands, made a few changes to them, and massed ordered a couple hundred of them. We’ve sold around a hundred so far.”
Banga also is a part of an organization called ValpoHacks, which brings together tech-minded individuals in the area who want to learn more about technology, computers, encryption, and much more. He loves to run and has ran in a few marathons over the years. But most importantly, Banga loves spending time with his family and his niece and nephew every chance he gets.
“Now my brother is married and has two kids, and they’re pretty much the best things ever. So I love spending time with them as much as possible,” Banga said. “I didn’t really have a big family growing up, which didn’t bother me because I always appreciated being really close with my mom, dad, and brother. But I try to spend as much time with them as I can because I know how important that is.”
Whether Cameron Banga is spending time with his family, starting a new project that takes a lot of time and a lot of effort, or making apps for his favorite sports team, he is doing it because that is what he loves to do.
For more information about 9magnets, LLC, visit 9magnets.com.