Welcome to INVANTI Founders' Stories, where Dustin Mix and Maria Gibbs interview INVANTI founders about their backgrounds, how they ended up at INVANTI, what they explored while they were here, and ultimately what venture they have built.

In this sixth episode, Dustin and Maria interview Cohort 2 member Finn Pegler. Finn moved to South Bend for INVANTI from Ireland after previously attending the ESTEEM master’s program at the University of Notre Dame. Prior to joining us, Finn worked with Ford Motors in London as a product development engineer, and launched a small business in the house cleaning industry which he ran remotely from London for 3 years.

Finn is emerging from this 6-month cohort as the founder of Cara, a vibrant social community for freelancers.

Cara was born out of the recognition for the over 55 million freelancer workers in the United States, the freedom of freelancing comes with significant drawbacks. Over 39% say they feel lonely since becoming self-employed and current solutions like meetups and networking events are inflexible and inconsistent, co-working spaces commonly lack the community programming needed for connection, and online groups are not sufficient.

Cara is creating a company for freelancers that simulates all the social benefits of working for a company without any of the drawbacks like having a boss, set hours, or office politics. By joining one of their “mock” companies, freelancers have access to social meetups, pop-up co-working opportunities, weekly standups, milestone celebrations, quarterly retreats, and more, allowing freelancers to enjoy independent work without sacrificing social connection.

This conversation covers why Finn chose INVANTI and entrepreneurship, how he discovered the problems that led to Cara’s solution, and where this new company is going in the next 3-6 months.