From a 10-Week Test to a 2-Country Team: How Firstup Scaled Into LATAM & Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe
Latin America

HQ: San Francisco, USA
Company size: 201-500
Funding raised: $127M
Lead investors: Sumeru Equity Partners, Venrock, Trinity Ventures, Edelman, M12, Akkadian Ventures
Team location: Latin America and Eastern Europe

Cooperation time: since 2025
Product: AI-powered workforce orchestration platform for enterprise communication
Notable clients: Amazon, Ford, Phillips, Hilton, Toyota, Boeing, Pfizer, Dow

Firstup is a San Francisco-based workforce communication and engagement platform that helps large organizations connect with frontline, deskless, and office-based employees across email, mobile apps, intranets, and digital signage. The company serves over 40% of Fortune 100 companies. And it was named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Intranet Packaged Solutions.

Issue

Firstup already had legal entities in the US and UK – established infrastructure, a working business. Their next goal was to explore Latin America, starting with Mexico, without opening a local entity before validating the region as a long-term market.

Firstup was looking for a way to hire and manage senior engineers without getting stuck in legal, payroll, and operational work, allowing them to stay focused on platform development.

The traditional path forced an early bet – open an entity with a hefty upfront investment, or hire through a patchwork of local vendors with no single owner of compliance or quality. Neither option enabled Firstup to stay flexible while deciding on the market.

Firstup needed a partner who could deliver top-tier engineering talent and full operational coverage – fast enough to move on LATAM immediately, and light enough to scale at their own pace.

Solution

Alcor’s compliant infrastructure was already running in Mexico. No entity to register. No local law to untangle.

Recruitment came next – two specialized engineering roles, filled from Alcor’s network of 325,000+ pre-vetted developers. A candidate scorecard, built jointly with Firstup’s team, kept hiring decisions fast and clear. No guesswork. No mismatched CVs.

Every engagement ran as a compliant B2B contractor model, with Alcor handling classification, contracts, and payroll in both countries. Compliance wasn’t a phase to plan for. It was already built in.

Operations ran end-to-end. Firstup didn’t lift a finger – new hires were working within weeks, laptop in hand. When Firstup considered paying bonuses with gift cards, Alcor caught the risk first, routing payments through its own systems instead.

We’ve consistently been impressed by the speed and efficiency of Alcor’s onboarding process. Our new hires were onboarded quickly, compliantly, and smoothly.

Daniel Mattioli Senior Engineering Manager Firstup

RESULTS:

4 Silicon-grade hires across 2 markets

Alcor’s recruiters matched top-notch senior engineers – spanning UI & Data Services and API & System Integrations – to Firstup’s exact tech and cultural requirements across 4 specialized roles. As a result, these engineers integrated quickly and delivered from day one.

Full EOR coverage, zero legal headache

B2B contractor hiring, payroll administration, and local labor law navigation – handled entirely by Alcor in both Mexico and Poland, with no legal entity for Firstup to register.

Zero to working with no detours

From offer letter to working laptop, Alcor ran onboarding end-to-end – new hires were productive within 10 days, with zero setup work required from Firstup’s side.

Nailing the EVP

Alcor advised Firstup on tailoring its Employee Value Proposition for the Mexican market – PTO, sick leave, public holidays, and competitive contractor benefits – so offers stood out to top candidates and kept the pipeline steady.

Growth built on proof

Firstup grew the team twice over – adding contractors in Mexico and extending into Poland – built on results the company could already see, not a projection it had to take on faith.

Hired experts in:

React Ruby on Rails and SQL UI API development

Build Your AI Engineering Team in 30 Days

No vendor chaos. 0 compliance risk. No more recruiting delays.

Alcor Helped Build the Foundation for Everything That Followed

2021

Reaches 40%+ of Fortune 100 as clients, powering communication for 15M+ workers

2025

Named a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Intranet Packaged Solutions – 3 years running

2025

Partners with Alcor to launch a compliant LATAM hiring model

2026

Named a 2026 AI Breakthrough Award winner

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Clients Love Us. Teams Do Too.

“The Alcor team has always been supportive and approachable whenever assistance was needed. Rather than feeling like an external resource, engineers working through Alcor are able to integrate closely with the client’s teams. This creates a more collaborative environment and allows engineers to have a greater impact.”

Germán Parodi Senior QA Automation Engineer

“My overall experience has been outstanding. Alcor’s model offered the right balance — strong operational support combined with genuine ownership and long-term collaboration. In this model, I am a core member of the team. Rather than rotating between projects, I can invest meaningfully in improving the product and establishing processes that deliver lasting value.”

Oleksandr Artemenko Senior QA Engineer

“Whenever I’ve had tricky bank requests or needed extra documentation, Alcor has resolved everything rapidly. I also love their support with business trips and expense tracking—it’s incredibly convenient. Their team is always available via messenger and ready to help. Highly recommended for anyone who wants a hassle-free professional life!”

Yevhen Kochetkov Staff Software Engineer

“Alcor has been a reliable partner throughout, especially in complex situations. Issues are resolved quickly — often within minutes or hours. Their ability to adapt and support us in complex situations has made a real difference for our team.”