Carta is transforming how private markets operate by digitizing equity ownership and investment infrastructure previously managed through manual spreadsheets and paper trails. The company's software enables founders, investors and employees to manage cap tables (records of company ownership), fund administration and valuations all in one place.
Since 2021, Waterloo co-op students have been central to the transformation of private capital for Carta's customers. Carta sees Waterloo as a high-quality source of software engineering talent, hiring students who bring not just technical ability, but fresh perspectives and problem-solving mindsets.
Waterloo co-op students at Carta work to enhance AI-powered financial tools, optimize international cap table management and automate fund valuation processes to help investors make more informed decisions.
"Every time a team hears they're getting a co-op student, they're excited. They see it as getting another engineer, not just a student," says Walid Ibrahim, director of engineering at Carta.
"Waterloo co-op students come in ready to contribute. They're very strong developers who understand data structures, algorithms and system design, so we just focus on onboarding them into our domain."
One of those students, Vivian Guo, a fourth-year Computing and Financial Management student, has completed two co-op terms at Carta. Guo worked across product teams to improve key features that serve both investors and startups.
On the Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) team, Guo developed an enhancement to support gap attestation letters a feature that helps shareholders maintain eligibility for a U.S. tax credit.
During her co-op work term with the Portco Data team at Carta, Guo contributed to the company's AI-powered cap table builder by extending its functionality to process pro formas (financial models used for valuations and scenario analysis).
The enhancement helped investors generate more accurate and data-driven insights.
"This project helped me build experience as a full-stack engineer from a back-end-dominated background," Guo says. "Collaborating with various engineering teams through code reviews further accelerated my learning on best practices and software design."
Carta's approach to supporting co-op students is intentional. Every engineering co-op student begins their term with an engineering bootcamp, a week of technical onboarding that introduces them to core systems and Carta's events infrastructure.
After they complete the bootcamp, Carta pairs co-op students with both a mentor and a manager to set goals that align with each student's interests and the company's priorities.
According to Walid, this structured support helps students develop their skills quickly while contributing to complex, production-level work. "We ask students early on to define what success looks like for them," he says.
"Whether they want to focus on fintech systems, data pipelines or cap table modelling, we make sure their projects get them there."
It's a model that has proven to be mutually beneficial. Waterloo students gain hands-on experience at a leading fintech company, shaping the future of equity management, and Carta continues to build its next generation of engineering leaders.
The company has steadily grown its investment in early talent from just 10 co-op students in its first year of hiring to now bringing on more than 50 students annually.
Investing in future talent through co-op student hiring has become a cornerstone of Carta's talent strategy. By giving skilled Waterloo students opportunities to contribute to real engineering challenges, the company builds a strong talent pool who grow into full-time roles and advance quickly within the organization.
"Waterloo's co-op program has had a huge impact on our ability to hire high-calibre early career talent," says Amy Ulrich, senior manager, technical recruiting at Carta.
"Over the last few years, we've converted about 40 co-op students to full-time employees, and a third of them have already advanced into senior roles. That kind of accelerated growth really speaks to the calibre of talent coming from Waterloo."
Through partnerships like Carta's, Waterloo continues to advance technological and economic futures, equipping students to drive innovation in rapidly evolving industries.
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