As former interns at early-stage startups, Rider Tuff and Eric Gonzalez know how important it is to match the right student intern with a company.
The pair founded Leva earlier this year to make finding that right fit a little easier for everyone involved.
Leva is an online platform designed to connect qualified students with internship opportunities at startup companies around the country, and potentially around the globe.
Tuff and Gonzalez heard early on, from both interns and startups, how valuable the internship experience can be.
"Richmond students got to work for small companies where they had a lot of really visible impact or were able to work cross functionally,” Tuff said. “Whereas startups also got a pretty diverse perspective from students, and the students were able to tackle some pretty huge projects for a lot of companies.”
Early in 2020, the team worked to match University of Richmond students with freelance needs at local startups. They quickly realized companies also wanted to build their own professional networks through longer-term connections, which proved challenging with one-off, project based work.
And as Covid halted the majority of in-person operations, the way students and companies are connecting has changed. Many shifted to a remote work model and became more receptive to remote internships.
"If there is any silver lining to covid, it's that remote work has been somewhat proven, and now remote internships are a possibility," Tuff said.
That knowledge led Leva to shift focus from helping students find contract work to helping them find internships instead. Tuff said over the summer the team built up its platform through outreach and referrals and is currently working with 16 business incubators and accelerators, as well as more than 20 companies worldwide.
They hope to use Leva to put more internship opportunities in front of students throughout the school year. Tuff said startups benefit because students can provide potentially useful feedback on product development; and for students, internships can often be critical in choosing a career direction.
"Having internships, longer form networking opportunities, multiple times a year can really help students narrow that down," he said.
Leva screens students to make sure they are eager to learn and grow their professional skills in a startup environment. Students can then apply for open positions and begin building relationships with interested companies. Tuff and Gonzalez said students using the platform have historically done well at companies with fewer than 50 employees and are in the Series A funding stage.
"We don't do any matching on the platform. [Company] founders really want to get to know students before bringing them on for a full internship,” Gonzalez said. “Developing that relationship with a student is important, especially from a mentoring perspective.”
The pair said Leva wants to work with students and startups from any industry, focus or location, and have plans to continue growing the platform to reach as many budding professionals and businesses as they can.