# Birju Kadakia

> Birju Kadakia is the co-founder and CEO of Rec Technologies, a San Francisco software company modernizing how public recreation departments run registrations, facilities, memberships and community programs. A Chicago-area park-district kid who later worked in consulting, joined Uber during its early expansion, led international product for UberEats and became a product director at The Athletic, Kadakia is now applying consumer-technology lessons to public play. Rec launched in 2022 with fellow former Uber operator Rachel Williams, raised an $11 million Series A in 2025 and, by mid-2026, was expanding from dozens of communities into major municipal systems while developing AI tools intended to remove administrative work from recreation staff.

- **Role:** CEO and Co-Founder at Rec Technologies
- **Organizations:** Rec Technologies, The Athletic, Uber, PwC Advisory, Diamond Management & Technology Consultants
- **Education:** Bachelor of Science in General Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- **Known for:** Co-founded Rec Technologies and grew it from a 2022 startup into a recreation operating platform serving public agencies across more than 20 states by the end of 2025., Raised an $11 million Series A in 2025 led by Crosslink Capital, with participation connected to Larry Fitzgerald, Kevin Durant's Thirty Five Ventures, Andre Agassi, Joe Montana's Liquid 2 Ventures and other investors., Led product work at Uber across regional operations, Xchange Leasing, UberEverything and UberEats International.

## Career timeline

- **2010** — Joined Diamond Management & Technology Consultants as a consultant after graduating from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
- **2010-2013** — Worked in PwC Advisory, reaching senior associate.
- **2013-2014** — Joined Uber as senior operations manager for the Central United States.
- **2014-2015** — Worked on the founding team of Uber's Xchange Leasing initiative.
- **2015-2017** — Led strategic projects as a senior manager within UberEverything.
- **2017-2018** — Served as product lead for UberEats International.
- **2018-2021** — Served as Director of Product Management at The Athletic.
- **2022** — Co-founded Rec Technologies with Rachel Williams in San Francisco.
- **2024-03** — Rec emerged from stealth with $6.2 million raised across pre-seed and seed financing and a platform for residents, instructors and recreation departments.
- **2025-09** — Rec announced an $11 million Series A led by Crosslink Capital, bringing publicly announced funding to $18 million.
- **2026** — Rec expanded into larger municipal recreation systems and Kadakia published a practical AI master-plan framework based on a 92-person department survey.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Rec Technologies and grew it from a 2022 startup into a recreation operating platform serving public agencies across more than 20 states by the end of 2025.
- Raised an $11 million Series A in 2025 led by Crosslink Capital, with participation connected to Larry Fitzgerald, Kevin Durant's Thirty Five Ventures, Andre Agassi, Joe Montana's Liquid 2 Ventures and other investors.
- Led product work at Uber across regional operations, Xchange Leasing, UberEverything and UberEats International.
- Served as Director of Product Management at The Athletic before the company was acquired by The New York Times in 2022.
- Oversaw Rec's entry into large public recreation systems, including an end-to-end launch at Apex Park and Recreation District and an announced partnership with Indianapolis.

## Latest updates

- **2026-07** — Kadakia announced that Indianapolis selected Rec as a technology partner for a system encompassing 218 parks, 155 sports fields, 23 indoor recreation facilities and 20 aquatic centers.
- **2026-07** — He said Rec was hiring in product, design, engineering and strategic finance around a mission of using AI to help people lead more active lives.
- **2026-07** — Rec announced SOC 2 Type II certification for the security controls protecting community data.
- **2026-04** — Kadakia published an essay in Recreation Management arguing for AI that handles busywork while leaving judgment with people.
- **2026-03** — He published Rec's first State of AI in Recreation report, based on a survey of 92 Arlington recreation staff members.

## Links

- Website: https://rec.us/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/birjukadakia/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/birju-kadakia
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-18