Software Engineering Intern (Summer 2026)

Candle is a Y Combinator-backed consumer app that connects friends and couples through daily shared challenges. We've grown to 800K+ users and $2M+ annualized revenue in under 10 months with a three-person team. We are seeking a Software Engineering Intern for Summer 2026 to help scale our consumer app. The role involves shipping features end-to-end, optimizing infrastructure for millions of notifications and AI inference, and improving system performance. Key responsibilities include owning feature development, designing scalable systems, identifying bottlenecks, and collaborating directly with founders. Sample projects include building a reliable notification microservice, creating real-time collaborative features, or developing a content recommendation algorithm. The tech stack includes React Native/Expo, SwiftUI, Convex backend with TypeScript, and AI models from Anthropic, OpenAI, and Gemini. We are looking for someone with strong TypeScript and mobile framework experience, with Swift as optional. Ideal candidates are excited by viral consumer products and fast shipping cycles. The internship is hybrid (3 days in-office, remote otherwise) in San Francisco. Compensation: $6.5K-$9K monthly. Junior and above, US citizen or visa holder.