Covrd

The Covrd Story

Co-founders Varun and Shray had been toying around with the idea of a startup for a while. They had been friends since Yale, and were passionate about using technology to solve social challenges. The sharing economy offered an exciting new space, and they contemplated building a platform to provide health insurance and other benefits to freelancers in the sharing economy.

It was while riding in an Uber in Boston in December 2014, that the idea for Covrd first struck them, or rather was pitched to them by their first customer. It was a just another ride, but as was common for them whenever riding around the city, it turned into a conversation about the startup. The Uber driver, Glen, was excited about getting insurance benefits, but had a more pressing concern – he wanted his money faster! Like most freelancers and employees, Glen received his earnings a week to 10 days after he completed rides, and his low account balance meant that he was often taking, or on the cusp of taking, a payday loan. Several more conversations and intense groundwork followed, and in early 2015, Covrd was born!

What is Covrd?

Covrd is a financial technology startup that helps freelancers in the sharing economy access their earnings faster. By reducing the gap between when freelancers earn income and when they actually receive it, Covrd helps them avoid usurious short-term loans and bank overdraft fees. Our vision is to use technology to help people achieve greater financial freedom with their own income. Our tagline: “You’ve Got You Covrd.”

We currently have a web app that allows customers to analyze and understand their earnings and view the balance on their Covrd card (to which the daily payments are made).

Who We Are?

Covrd is an early stage company, and currently consists of three founders, a part-time full stack developer and a couple of contractors and business development folks!

Shray Chandra is a co-founder at Covrd and leads all the finance, banking and regulatory pieces that go into Covrd. Prior to starting Covrd, he completed his MBA at Harvard Business School. Before heading back to school, he led product and business development at Silicon India, a tech career services startup in India, and was a risk analyst at JPMorgan in New York. He has an undergraduate degree in Economics, Computer Science and Math from Yale.

Varun Purandare is a co-founder at Covrd and leads all things customer and marketing related. Prior to starting Covrd, Varun was a consultant in the digital business and technology group at Strategy& (Formerly Booz & Co.) in NYC. While there he worked with a variety of industries from automobiles to financial institutions. He has an undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering from Yale.

Vivek Gupta is a co-founder at Covrd and leads product. Vivek was a classmate of Shray’s at Harvard Business School prior to starting Covrd. Before school, he worked at both the office of the Prime Minister of India and with the Tata Group in Israel, South Africa, and India. He has an undergraduate degree in Electronic Engineering from RV College, Bangalore.

Our Interview & Hiring Process

Our interview process consists of three stages. The first stage is a quick introductory phone call with one our team members and our technical advisor, Huned Botee. Huned is a developer extraordinaire and the man behind the Covrd tech stack. This call is an opportunity for you to learn more about our product, people and technology, while allowing us to better understand your background and experiences.

The second stage is an online technical test with Huned. This will be a short problem set in a language of your choice completed live online.

The final stage will be a visit to our office to hang out in person with our awesome team. This will give you an opportunity to really learn who we are, how we work and what we stand for, and will allow us to see how you would fit into the Covrd team!

We hope to have the entire process complete in 10 days to two weeks from the time we reach out.

What Are the Best Things About Working At Covrd

• You’re going to help end exploitative short-term lending. If you want to see why that’s a good thing, watch this awesome John Oliver clip here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDylgzybWAw
• A team that always has your back. As a startup, we know things rarely work according to plan. When they don’t, we pride ourselves on sitting back together and figuring out why things didn’t work out. In other words - we always have you Covrd!
• Free Uber/Lyft rides to and from work. It’s both a perk and a marketing strategy ;)
• A super cool office space with lots of sunlight at WeWork Transbay
• Lunch is on us. While we can’t offer catered lunches (at this stage), rest assured you will be adequately and healthily fed at all points