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First Critical Hires

Hire Founding Engineers Who Thrive in Startup Chaos

The first engineering hires shape product, culture, and execution. Find builders with the ownership, adaptability, and startup mindset needed to turn ambitious ideas into scalable products.

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Top matches
Harish Verma
Harish Verma
Cloud Engineer, AI Engineer · Google Cloud · IIT
96%
Cloud-native AIEnd-to-end ML lifecycleGenAI practitioner
Girish V
Girish V
Full Stack Engineer · KaamWork · IIT
93%
Shashank Singh
Shashank Singh
Backend Engineer · VoloHealth · IIT
91%
DecathlonBrowserStackGitLabAirbnbTripadvisordarwinboxPrecisely
48 hrs
to your first shortlist
90%
shortlist to interview rate
500+
startups hired with us recently
We understand early-stage hiring

You're not just hiring people. You're building the foundation of your company.

Your first hires set the product, the culture, and the pace so each one has to count.

Every hire matters

At ten people, one hire moves the whole company.

Founder time is limited

Every hour spent screening is an hour not building.

Hard to attract great talent

No brand yet so you're winning people on conviction.

Too many irrelevant profiles

Job boards flood you with noise, not signal.

No recruiting team

You're the sourcer, the interviewer, and the closer.

One wrong hire is expensive

An early mis-hire can set the team back months.

Hiring intelligence

Everything you need to hire with confidence.

Every profile includes an evidence-backed read on skills, mindset, and intent. We assess all of it specifically for startup and product-company roles.

Dhaval Patel
Dhaval Patel
Full Stack Engineer · IIT Kharagpur · 6 yrs
What we found
Technical depth and breadthStrong

Strong systems and ML depth, ships across the full stack.

0 → 1 buildingStrong

Built and shipped a product to its first users on his own.

Ownership and agencyStrong

Takes undefined scope and moves, without a spec.

Ambiguity toleranceMedium

Reshaped a fuzzy brief live. First time in a true early seat.

Intent and convictionStrong

Wants a seed stage bet, not a title.

Recommended for
Founding engineer
88%Confidence

A real 0 → 1 builder who wants the bet.

● AI deep analysisEvaluated by Talent Partner

Startup-readiness insights

Evaluate ownership, ambiguity handling, curiosity, execution depth, and founder alignment - not just skills and experience.

Transparent AI & human screening

Structured evaluation across capability, mindset, alignment, and risk signals - visible to every hiring manager.

Screening call recordings & transcripts

Review real candidate conversations - not recruiter summaries. See how a candidate thinks and presents.

Recommendation reports & evidence snapshots

See exactly why a candidate is recommended, what was validated, and where caution may be needed.

Customer Stories

Proven across startups and product companies at every stage

Real hires and real outcomes from seed-stage startups to scale stage.

Uplers helped us hire an AI engineer for Slidely AI. Constant check-ins, follow-ups, understanding our needs for the role, adapting to the requirement changes based on the interviews, they were on top of it all.
Nikhil Shah, Founder
Seed Stage
Finding a trustworthy partner that is not going to screw you in the end, it’s difficult, especially when I was in the Middle East and when I was in India for a short period, it’s very difficult. And Uplers so far has been fantastic.
Johnny Boufarhat, Founder
Seed Stage
Uplers has been a true partner in building our team in Bangalore from day zero. They took the time to understand our requirements and consistently put us in front of the right candidates, not just any candidates. Their team streamlined what is usually a slow and painful hiring process and made it efficient and reliable. We’re grateful for their support and would recommend them to anyone looking to build a team in India.
Aaditya Subedi, Co-founder
Seed Stage
It is great to hear that the collaboration has been a positive experience for the team and that Mukul and the rest of the talent are feeling supported and motivated. We also value the partnership with Uplers and appreciate the commitment your team brings to our projects. We look forward to continuing this momentum together.
Vivek Nair, COO & Co-founder
Seed Stage
You guys understand the project well and have delivered very good, the candidate are strong and my high level feedback is very positive. I am also very satisfied with the co-ordination happening from your side.
Zorik Gordon, Founder
Series A
Before Uplers, screening 60 CVs for 3-4 interviews often led to settling for average talent. Uplers changed that: I now have 2 super high-quality hires from just 15 profiles.
Saurabh, Dir. of Engineering
Seed Stage
Uplers helped us hire an AI engineer for Slidely AI. Constant check-ins, follow-ups, understanding our needs for the role, adapting to the requirement changes based on the interviews, they were on top of it all.
Nikhil Shah, Founder
Seed Stage
Finding a trustworthy partner that is not going to screw you in the end, it’s difficult, especially when I was in the Middle East and when I was in India for a short period, it’s very difficult. And Uplers so far has been fantastic.
Johnny Boufarhat, Founder
Seed Stage
Uplers has been a true partner in building our team in Bangalore from day zero. They took the time to understand our requirements and consistently put us in front of the right candidates, not just any candidates. Their team streamlined what is usually a slow and painful hiring process and made it efficient and reliable. We’re grateful for their support and would recommend them to anyone looking to build a team in India.
Aaditya Subedi, Co-founder
Seed Stage
It is great to hear that the collaboration has been a positive experience for the team and that Mukul and the rest of the talent are feeling supported and motivated. We also value the partnership with Uplers and appreciate the commitment your team brings to our projects. We look forward to continuing this momentum together.
Vivek Nair, COO & Co-founder
Seed Stage
You guys understand the project well and have delivered very good, the candidate are strong and my high level feedback is very positive. I am also very satisfied with the co-ordination happening from your side.
Zorik Gordon, Founder
Series A
Before Uplers, screening 60 CVs for 3-4 interviews often led to settling for average talent. Uplers changed that: I now have 2 super high-quality hires from just 15 profiles.
Saurabh, Dir. of Engineering
Seed Stage
Talent Discovery

Explore startup-ready talent.

Get a shortlist of high-intent professionals across the roles startups hire most. They are scored on startup signals, not just resumes.

AI EngineersFull Stack EngineersBackend EngineersData ScientistDevOpsQA Engineer
Harish Verma
Harish Verma
Cloud Engineer, AI Engineer
Exp. 7 years
Google CloudIIT
Startup Signals
Cloud-native AIEnd-to-end ML lifecycleGenAI practitionerDomain-versatile

A highly motivated and experienced cloud engineer with a knack for solving problems using cutting-edge ML/DL techniques and implementing solutions leveraging cloud-based infrastructure. Experience in delivering end-to-end Machine Learning projects with the capability to handle all Data Science Life Cycle Tasks like designing and scoping the , Model development, experimentation and deployment, MLOps, Data governance and exploration in multiple domains. A team player with good communication skills and a passion for staying up-to-date with the latest technology advancements in the field of Cloud and AI.

Profile
Divyaraj Singh Chundawat
Divyaraj Singh Chundawat
Data Scientist & AI Engineer
Exp. 1.4 years
Nexus Ocean AIIISc
Startup Signals
0→1 architectAgentic AI depthResearch-to-productionFast climber

Backend-focused GenAI engineer building production LLM applications multi-agent systems, RAG pipelines, and REST APIs in Python/FastAPI seeking a high-growth product or funded-startup environment.

Profile
Varshith B
Varshith B
Senior AI Engineer
Exp. 5.8 years
LivepeerIIT
Startup Signals
Inference-obsessedShips at scaleFull-stack MLOpen-source contributor

Senior AI Engineer with 5+ years building end-to-end AI systems — from data curation, model training and fine-tuning to inference optimization and production deployment.Currently at Livepeer working on real-time video diffusion models and AI infrastructure. Previously at Sprinklr (4+ years) building production ML at scale — LLM agents, NLP, computer vision, and ML infrastructure serving enterprise clients.I go beyond black-box usage — I understand the full stack from model architecture to GPU serving and like to build systems that are fast, reliable, and cost-efficient.Areas: LLMs, AI Agents, Generative AI, Diffusion Models, NLP, Computer Vision, Model Training & Fine-Tuning, Inference Optimization, TensorRT, PyTorch, Transformers, MLOps, Distributed SystemsOpen to Senior AI/ML Engineer, Forward Deployed Engineer, Applied AI Scientist, or Founding Engineer roles.

Profile
Sanskar
Sanskar
Data Scientist & Senior AI Engineer
Exp. 5.2 years
ImbesideyouIIT
Startup Signals
Research-publishedClinical AI depthAgentic systems builderLong-arc ownership

AI engineer with 4+ years shipping production LLM and multimodal systems end-to-end. Currently at I'mbesideyou Inc. building agentic AI infrastructure — multi-tenant RAG pipelines for enterprise clients like NTT DATA, multimodal SOP-generation systems deployed across 3+ organizations with 100+ operators, voice AI agents on Vapi and LiveKit handling 1,000+ calls, and LLM evaluation frameworks with automated regression gates.Previously built and productionized clinical AI: a multimodal depression-severity model (83% accuracy, 350+ patients) that contributed to an FDA Breakthrough Device Designation application, and an LLM-based SOAP note generation system that cut clinician documentation time by 70%.Areas of expertise: Agentic AI · Multi-agent systems · RAG (Qdrant, FAISS, cross-encoder reranking) · LLM fine-tuning (LoRA/QLoRA, DPO, RLHF, preference optimization) · LLM evaluation & observability (Langfuse, LLM-as-judge, RAGAS) · Prompt engineering · Voice AI (Vapi, LiveKit) · Multimodal ML · Clinical AI · Production MLOps · LangGraph · Pydantic · FastAPI · PyTorch · AWS · PythonPublished: "A Practical Approach to Predicting Depression" — Health Informatics Journal (2024)Published: "Chatbot Interventions for Depression & Anxiety" — European Health Psychology Society (2025)IIT Hyderabad, B.Tech Engineering Physics (CGPA: 8.48/10). Transferable H1B, immediately available for US relocation. Open to Senior AI Engineer, ML Engineer, and Applied AI roles.

Profile
Gokul Kumar Balakrishnan
Gokul Kumar Balakrishnan
AI Engineer
Exp. 3 years
V-LABSNIT
Startup Signals
Steady ML practitionerHealthcare AI exposureMulti-credentialDeployment-focused

As an AI Engineer at V-Labs, I apply my machine learning skills and knowledge to design, develop, and deploy innovative AI solutions for various domains and clients. I work with a team of talented and passionate engineers, researchers, and developers, who share my vision of creating impactful and meaningful AI applications that can solve real-world problems and improve lives.I have a strong academic background in machine learning, having completed my Master's degree from National Institute of Technology Karnataka, one of the premier engineering institutes in India. I also have a keen interest in programming and data science, and I am pursuing an online B.Sc degree from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, another prestigious institution in the field. I have earned multiple certifications in Python, data science, and calculus.My goal is to continuously learn, grow, and challenge myself as an AI Engineer, and to contribute to the advancement and democratization of AI. I am always eager to explore new opportunities, technologies, and domains, and to collaborate with other professionals, experts, and stakeholders in the AI ecosystem. I believe that AI has the potential to transform the world for the better, and I am excited to be a part of this journey.

Profile
How Uplers helps

Less time screening. More time building.

Two ways to make your first critical hires, pick what fits the role.

AI-Led

Curated Sourcing

*currently in beta, only open to startups in India
“Highly relevant, hire-ready profiles in hours.”

Our AI hiring agent sources and matches best-fit candidates within hours, handing you a shortlist of genuinely relevant, high-intent profiles to interview and close yourself.

Best for
  • Junior to mid-level roles
  • Common tech stacks
  • Budget-conscious hiring
What's included
  • AI-led sourcing & matching
  • Highly relevant, curated shortlist
  • Skill, mindset & intent alignment
  • High-intent, responsive profiles
  • Delivered in hours, not weeks
₹25,000 - ₹50,000
Per role
Flat fee per role · varies by complexity & experience level
AI & Human-Led

Full Service Hiring

For business-critical roles
“A specialist owns the entire hunt - until the right person joins.”

For the roles you can't afford to get wrong, a dedicated principal recruiter runs everything end-to-end: sourcing, pitching and selling the opportunity, scheduling interviews, coordinating, managing the offer, and supporting the candidate through joining.

Best for
  • Senior & leadership roles
  • Niche, hard-to-fill skill sets
  • Business-critical & strategic hires
  • Quality-first hiring
What's included
  • Dedicated principal recruiter
  • End-to-end hiring
  • Sourcing, screening & evaluation
  • Candidate pitching & interview coordination
  • Offer management & negotiation
  • Joining support & replacement cover
10% - 15%
Of annual CTC
Success fee on annual compensation · varies by seniority & complexity
Get Started

Build your next high-impact team with Uplers.

Tell us what you're hiring for, we'll send you matched, startup-ready profiles, fast.