“Can a vertical SaaS platform purpose-built for construction back-office complexity — union rules, prevailing wage, certified payroll, multi-state compliance — become the operating system that replaces every fragmented legacy tool used by specialty contractors?”
Founded in 2021 as a construction payroll platform focused on same-day pay for construction workers, Trayd initially pitched itself as solving earned wage access delays for the 7M US construction workers. The company has since expanded into a full back-office operating system for specialty contractors — encompassing HR, onboarding, scheduling, field tracking, compliance (union, prevailing wage, certified payroll), and real-time job costing. The embedded finance angle is centered on payroll infrastructure and automated tax filing rather than banking or lending products, with the platform integrating with construction accounting systems as its primary downstream connector.
Trayd's cards are issued through deserve.
Trayd's payroll is powered by Check.
Trayd integrates with leading construction accounting systems (unnamed).
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 3 layers in Trayd's stack: Card issuing (deserve); Payroll (Check); Accounting (leading construction accounting systems (unnamed)).
Trayd was founded by Anna Berger (CEO) and Cara Kessler (CTO) and is founded in 2021, headquartered in New York, NY, USA.
Trayd has raised $17M in total (latest round: Series A, 2025).
Get a read on where your own stack stands against Trayd and the rest of its category — what they built versus bought, which providers they use, and where the gaps in your own strategy and competitive set actually are.