# Vardhan Kapoor

> Vardhan Kapoor is the CEO and co-founder of FirstWork (YC S24), an AI-native HR and compliance platform built for frontline and seasonal workers. Before founding FirstWork in 2024, he ran strategy and operations at Deliveroo during its hypergrowth years and served as Head of Region for APAC at Remitly, where he built a business approaching $100M in annual recurring revenue and helped take the company public on NASDAQ. FirstWork raised a $5M seed round in early 2025, led by Gradient, to cut onboarding time for high-turnover workforces by more than 75%.

- **Role:** CEO & Co-Founder at FirstWork (YC S24)
- **Organizations:** FirstWork, Remitly, Deliveroo, Y Combinator, Forbes Human Resources Council
- **Known for:** Co-founded and leads FirstWork, an AI-native HR and compliance platform for frontline workers (YC S24), Raised a $5M seed round in February 2025 led by Gradient, At Remitly, built a business approaching $100M ARR across 5+ APAC geographies and contributed to the company's NASDAQ public offering

## Career timeline

- **pre-2021** — Strategy and operations lead at Deliveroo, focused on regional growth across Southeast Asia during the company's hypergrowth era
- **2021-2024** — Head of Region, APAC at Remitly (NASDAQ: RELY); launched and scaled expansion across 5+ geographies, building a business approaching $100M ARR and launching a seafarers program for essential workers in Asia
- **2019** — Business book proposal on technology's impact on society shortlisted for the Financial Times / McKinsey Bracken Bower Prize (for authors under 35)
- **2024** — Co-founded FirstWork with Shubham Choudhary; joined Y Combinator's Summer 2024 (S24) batch
- **2025** — Raised $5M seed round led by Gradient, with Y Combinator, SOMA Capital, 468 Capital, Houghton Street Ventures and others participating

## Achievements

- Co-founded and leads FirstWork, an AI-native HR and compliance platform for frontline workers (YC S24)
- Raised a $5M seed round in February 2025 led by Gradient
- At Remitly, built a business approaching $100M ARR across 5+ APAC geographies and contributed to the company's NASDAQ public offering
- Launched a seafarers remittance program serving essential workers across Asia at Remitly
- Book proposal shortlisted for the FT/McKinsey Bracken Bower Prize in 2019
- Contributing member of the Forbes Human Resources Council

## Latest updates

- **2025-02** — FirstWork announced a $5M seed round led by Gradient to expand its AI-powered frontline workforce platform.
- **2024-2025** — FirstWork went through Y Combinator's S24 batch and grew its team while targeting logistics, ride-hailing, warehousing, delivery, hospitality and BPO customers.

## Links

- Website: https://firstwork.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vardhan-kapoor/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/vardhan-kapoor
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-31