The timing of its conception coincided with a period of political and social change in Singapore following the watershed elections of 2011.

[2] It was funded by social enterprise Project Fishermen, which is chaired by former senior civil servant, Philip Yeo.

This was done to change its funding structure from being supported by a social enterprise to a fully commercial media business.

[12][13] In 2021, the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism issued a Digital News Report, writing that Mothership was used by 42% of Singapore's population.

[14] In the 2023 edition of the study, Mothership emerged as the most used online news source in Singapore, surpassing mainstream competitors CNA and The Straits Times.

She publicly requested for Mothership to take down the "false content" and issue a public apology in a video rant, after which Mothership apologised in an editor's note on the article, and amended their article while taking down the accompanying Instagram post.

[18][19] On 18 February 2022, Mothership published an infographic on the Goods and Services Tax hike ahead of a press embargo.