BLVDPay needed engineers who could start immediately, but couldn’t afford to compromise on technical quality or spend weeks screening unsuitable candidates.
At a glance
| Metric | Outcome |
| Hires delivered | 4, all joined |
| Time to first hire | 8 days |
| Profiles for first role | 2 |
| Profiles per role | 5 or fewer |
| Recruitment ownership | One dedicated recruiter |
| Hiring process | 3 rounds, with decisions typically within 1–2 days |
The company and the hiring challenge
BLVDPay is building a payments platform that brings crypto, payments and lifestyle into one experience for high-net-worth users. The company operates under a registered Money Services Business license, with its founding team spread across Dubai and Europe and its technology organization based in Bangalore.
Rahul Prasad joined as CPO and India Head in February 2026. He was building the engineering organization while also leading the product roadmap toward a planned August launch.
The immediate requirement was for React Native and backend engineers who could join quickly and contribute to a payments product from day one.
Before Uplers, BLVDPay had worked with a private recruitment firm to fill its first six roles. The experience exposed a recurring problem: resumes matched the JD, but candidates often lacked the depth required for the work.
“All they were doing was pretty much like the manual task... whenever they would see any decent amount of keywords matching on their resumes, they would send those candidates.”
Rahul Prasad, CPO and India Head, BLVDPay
3 factors made the search particularly difficult:
- Immediate availability without compromising quality: BLVDPay needed candidates who could start now, but availability alone was not enough. They also needed strong technical fundamentals and relevant fintech experience.
- Technical depth beyond keyword matching: Rahul was concerned about candidates who could produce AI-assisted code but could not explain their own logic or demonstrate genuine hands-on capability.
- Limited hiring manager bandwidth: With the product roadmap demanding his attention, Rahul needed a partner who could qualify candidates and manage the process without creating more work for him.
How Uplers approached the search
1. Define the candidate before starting the search
Uplers began with a discovery conversation lasting more than an hour to understand the product, engineering requirements, team gaps and what success in the role would look like.
The discussion helped BLVDPay articulate requirements that had not been fully captured in the JD.
The search was then built around three non-negotiables: immediate availability, technical credibility and genuine motivation to join BLVDPay.
2. Screen for fintech depth and startup fit
The dedicated recruiter targeted candidates with direct experience in payments, KYC/AML or transaction infrastructure, rather than relying on adjacent SaaS experience or keyword overlap.
Screening also assessed technical fundamentals, immediate availability and willingness to move into a pre-launch startup.
This ensured that the profiles reaching BLVDPay were relevant to both the role and the company’s working environment.
3. Position the opportunity beyond compensation
One hire came from a large, well-known fintech. Uplers helped communicate what BLVDPay could offer that a larger organization might not: direct access to the CPO, a flat structure, fewer approval layers and meaningful ownership of the product.
The candidate later shared that the day-to-day experience was even better than expected and left a recommendation reflecting that.
The employer pitch helped candidates understand the opportunity they were choosing, not just the compensation and job description.
4. Move quickly without adding to the CPO’s workload
Uplers managed screening, interview coordination and candidate engagement end to end.
The team aligned around a three-round process, with decisions typically made within one to two days after the final round. In one case, all three rounds were completed in a single day.
One recruiter owned the account throughout, allowing Rahul to focus on technical evaluation and hiring decisions rather than managing the recruitment process.
The results
The first role closed in 8 days from just two submitted candidates.
Over approximately one month, Uplers delivered 4 hires across React Native and Backend/Java roles, all of whom joined.
Every role closed on five submitted profiles or fewer. One backend search also led BLVDPay to expand headcount during the process because the candidate pool was strong enough to justify an additional hire.
| Metric | Result |
| Confirmed hires | 4, all joined |
| First role closed | 8 days |
| Total delivery period | Approximately one month |
| Profiles submitted per role | 5 or fewer |
| First role | Closed from 2 profiles |
| Fastest interview loop | All 3 rounds completed in one day |
In the client’s words
“Our inclination right now is to continue the work with Uplers only... I think Uplers definitely came on top of all the players that we interacted with.”
Rahul Prasad, CPO and India Head, BLVDPay
The takeaway
BLVDPay’s immediate-joiner challenge was solved by combining precise sourcing, deeper screening, a compelling employer pitch and a fast interview process.
The outcome was a small, qualified shortlist that allowed the CPO to make hiring decisions without taking his attention away from the product.
4 hires. 1 month. All joined.
Building your engineering team against a tight deadline?
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