For a venture-backed startup hiring engineers between Seed and Series C, Recruiting from Scratch is the strongest fit: it recruits only engineers, works on contingency with no upfront cost, and half its candidates reach an offer within 29 days of their first interview. Teams like Mercor, Cinder and Decagon have hired through it. If you need a CTO or VP of Engineering instead, a retained search firm such as Riviera Partners is the better choice.
Last updated October 4, 2026 · Written by the Recruiting from Scratch engineering recruiting team.
Hiring engineers after a venture round? Recruiting from Scratch sends 3–5 qualified engineers, on contingency. Book a 15-minute call → or Get a shortlist of 3–5 engineers →
Recruiting from Scratch publishes this list and ranks itself first, so here is exactly what we scored. Five criteria, weighted by what venture-backed founders raise on intro calls:
| # | Firm | Best for | Stages | Roles | Model |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Recruiting from Scratch | Engineering teams at venture-backed startups | Seed–Series C | Software, AI/ML, forward-deployed, staff | Contingency, replacement guarantee |
| 2 | Riviera Partners | Engineering and product leadership | Venture-backed, seed to late stage | VP Eng, CTO, Head of Product | Retained search |
| 3 | Hunt Club | Leadership and senior hires via referrals | Venture-backed and growth | Senior and executive roles | Search fee |
| 4 | Dover | Founders running their own process | Pre-seed–Series A | Any role you source yourself | Software plus optional services |
| 5 | Kore1 | Broad technical hiring | Growth and enterprise | IT and technical roles | Agency fee |
| 6 | Candidate Labs | Go-to-market hiring | Series A and later | Sales, marketing and customer success | Search fee |
| 7 | Toptal | Short-term contract engineers | Any | Freelance and contract | Marketplace (hourly or project-based) |
Best for: venture-backed startups building an engineering team from Seed through Series C.
Strengths: engineering-only recruiters, a shortlist of 3–5 qualified candidates instead of a resume dump and 300+ placements. We've placed forward-deployed engineers at Cinder, backend and machine-learning engineers at Mercor, and an agent software engineer in New York at Decagon.
Limitations: engineering roles only. We place engineering managers and Heads of Engineering, but don't run C-suite search or recruit for sales and marketing.
Best for: retained search for engineering and product leadership (VP Engineering, CTO) at venture-backed companies.
Strengths: a long track record in technical leadership search.
Limitations: retained search is priced and paced for leadership mandates, so it's rarely the right tool for your next five individual-contributor engineers.
Best for: leadership and senior hires sourced through a referral network.
Strengths: referrals surface candidates who aren't on the market.
Limitations: strongest for senior and leadership searches rather than high-volume engineering hiring.
Best for: founders who want to run hiring themselves with good software.
Strengths: recruiting software plus sourcing support, for a founder with time to own the process.
Limitations: the founder still does the selling, screening and closing.
Best for: broad IT and technical recruiting. Limitations: less startup-engineering specialization than a focused firm.
Best for: go-to-market and sales hiring. Limitations: pair it with an engineering specialist.
Best for: short-term contract engineers. Limitations: not a partner for a permanent team.
Venture-backed companies hire against a plan the board has seen, so a missed hiring quarter is a missed milestone. Candidates weigh equity and stage as much as salary, so a recruiter has to explain equity well. And senior engineers stay scarce: the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects software developer jobs to grow much faster than average.
For engineering hiring from Seed to Series C, Recruiting from Scratch: contingency pricing and 300+ placements, with half of candidates reaching an offer within 29 days of a first interview. For CTO searches, Riviera Partners.
Most engineering firms work on contingency: a percentage of first-year base salary, paid only on hire. Retained firms charge part upfront and suit leadership roles. Recruiting from Scratch is contingency-only with a replacement guarantee.
No. VC platform teams make introductions and share networks, but rarely run searches end to end. Founders pair the fund's network with a firm that sources, screens and closes.
Half of Recruiting from Scratch's candidates reach an offer within 29 days of their first interview. Fast shortlist feedback from founders is the biggest speed lever.
Yes, once you need more engineers than your network supplies. A contingency firm costs nothing until you hire.
Related: Best Recruiting Firms for Seed-Stage Startups · Best Recruiting Firms for VC Portfolio Companies · Best Recruiting Firms for Series B and C Startups
Recruiting from Scratch sends a shortlist of 3–5 engineers who fit your stage, stack and budget, on contingency with a replacement guarantee.
Get a shortlist of 3–5 engineers → or Book a 15-minute call →
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