diff --git a/charts/intel/templates/deployment.yaml b/charts/intel/templates/deployment.yaml
index 34080da..07e6a70 100644
--- a/charts/intel/templates/deployment.yaml
+++ b/charts/intel/templates/deployment.yaml
@@ -27,6 +27,12 @@ spec:
         - name: {{ include "codetogether.fullname" . }}-pull-secret
       {{- end }}
       serviceAccountName: {{ include "codetogether.serviceAccountName" . }}
+
+      {{- with .Values.initContainers }}
+      initContainers:
+        {{- toYaml . | nindent 8 }}
+      {{- end }}
+
       containers:
         - name: {{ .Chart.Name }}
           securityContext:
diff --git a/charts/intel/values.yaml b/charts/intel/values.yaml
index bb4c418..717a055 100644
--- a/charts/intel/values.yaml
+++ b/charts/intel/values.yaml
@@ -133,6 +133,19 @@ serviceAccount:
 
 podAnnotations: {}
 
+# Optional: add initContainers (startup containers) to the pod spec.
+# Useful to wait for Cassandra or run startup checks before Intel starts.
+initContainers: []
+# Example:
+# initContainers:
+#   - name: wait-for-cassandra
+#     image: busybox:1.36
+#     command: ["sh", "-c"]
+#     args:
+#       - >
+#         until nc -z codetogether-cassandra.default.svc.cluster.local 9042;
+#         do echo "Waiting for Cassandra..."; sleep 2; done
+
 securityContext: {} #defaults
   # capabilities:
   #   drop: