Neil Vaswani used to beat himself up for not being a successful entrepreneur.
His father immigrated from India in the 1960s and launched a successful company, and Vaswani assumed he would follow suit. But first, he needed an idea.
“I saw the ups and downs of entrepreneurship, and it felt very natural to me; I had that deep itch where I used to get angry at myself every day I didn’t start a company,” he said. “I remember being 25 in the New York City subway, saying, ‘Why haven’t I started a company yet?’”
The idea — and company — eventually came in 2006 with Corestream, which Vaswani describes as a hybrid between the human resources tech, finance tech and insurance tech industries.
Corestream works with companies to help their employees easily access the additional benefits they need while avoiding a one-size-fits-all approach leaving many with benefits that aren’t needed. Employees sign up for a monthly recurring deduction for their other benefits, taken directly from their paychecks.
“Large employers that had thousands of employees were saying, ‘We have so many different employee demographics — to cater to the demand of each demographic, we need something that will scale,’” Vaswani said. “And employers have systems in place, and their HR restraints wouldn’t enable them to scale their benefits packages.”
It has hit 2 million users and counts Pfizer and Moffitt Cancer Center among its clients. It’s been on an upward trajectory since 2018, when it partnered with ADP and similar organizations. But when Covid-19 hit and millions began to work at home, Vaswani saw a cultural shift.
“During Covid, employers started to think more holistically,” he said. “Before, it was, ‘OK, I have a 401(k) and core medical.’ Now, kids and pets are part of the new office environment.”
They’ve continued to make strides. Corestream recently hired Boris Yovchev as its chief product officer, who previously worked at Wayfair and CVS Health. He joins Mark Cope, who was hired last month as chief revenue officer. As the C-suite is filled out now, Vaswani has other big goals to hit.
“We’ve had a few inflection points over the year where it’s a breakthrough point,” Vaswani said. “As we figure out how to unlock distribution, to getting the word out there, and engaging with the end user — as we get better at those things, it gives us an opportunity to grow faster.”
