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For founders: your first India hires without a legal department.

You have offers to make and no counsel, no HR system and no Indian entity. We are the layer that makes that fine. Brief us on the role, interview the shortlist we return in nine days, and your first hires start on our Bengaluru entity within a week of accepting, fully employed, fully compliant, for $149 a month each.

No entity, no counsel, no HR team needed. Brief the role, pick from a nine-day shortlist, and your hire starts compliantly at $149 a month.

Speak to sales EOR vs entity, in detail

G2 4.8 / 5 on G2, from companies employing teams in India through us.

Teams building in India. First hire to full team.

The founder patchwork versus one accountable layer.

Most first India hires start as a contractor invoice and a prayer. Here is what that patchwork actually costs against doing it properly.

The DIY patchwork

Versatile from hire one

Employment status
Contractor invoices, misclassification risk
Real employment on a registered entity
Your time spent
Nights reading PF and TDS rules
One kickoff call and interviews
Payroll
Manual wires, no payslips
Monthly payroll with payslips and filings
IP protection
A template NDA of unknown force
Assignment clauses in employment contracts
First-hire timeline
Months of figuring it out
Nine days to shortlist, five to onboard
When you raise or scale
Cleanup diligence before the round
A clean structure investors can read

The DIY patchwork
Employment status Contractor invoices, misclassification risk
Your time spent Nights reading PF and TDS rules
Payroll Manual wires, no payslips
IP protection A template NDA of unknown force
First-hire timeline Months of figuring it out
When you raise or scale Cleanup diligence before the round

Versatile from hire one
Employment status Real employment on a registered entity
Your time spent One kickoff call and interviews
Payroll Monthly payroll with payslips and filings
IP protection Assignment clauses in employment contracts
First-hire timeline Nine days to shortlist, five to onboard
When you raise or scale A clean structure investors can read
Day 1
One call: role, budget, must-haves
Day 9
Shortlist lands with pay benchmarks
Day 14
You interview between investor calls
Day 18
Offer out under our entity, signed fast
Day 23
Hire onboarded, laptop issued, IP assigned
Month 3
Recruitment fee invoiced only if they stayed

What the do-it-yourself route costs a founder in hours.

Registering for the right approvals, decoding PF, ESIC, professional tax and TDS, drafting a compliant contract and running a first payroll consumes founder evenings for months. None of it moves the product forward.

Under EOR the same obligations exist, but they are our job. Your involvement in Indian employment law rounds to a signature and a monthly invoice.

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Illustrative founder hours sunk into DIY India setup Cumulative hours across the first four months of a first hire
35 hrs Month 1
62 hrs Month 2
96 hrs Month 3
140 hrs Month 4
Illustration of typical founder time on registrations, contracts and first payrolls without local help. Actual hours vary with structure and advisors.
Where those hours could have gone
DIY entity and payroll Founder absorbs the hours
EOR through Versatile We carry the admin

A founder's scarcest asset is attention. Every hour spent decoding Indian payroll law is an hour not spent on the product the hires were meant to build. Price your first hires properly with the EOR versus entity calculator before you wire the first contractor payment.

The division of labour, founder edition.

You keep everything that makes the company yours. We take everything an HR and legal department would have done.

You run

  • Product direction and what the hires build
  • Interviews and the final hiring call
  • Compensation, passed through in full

We handle

  • Sourcing and nine-day shortlists
  • Compliant employment contracts
  • Payroll, PF, ESIC and TDS every month
  • Insurance, devices and eventual exits

You run
  • Build the product
  • Pick the people
  • Set the salaries
  • Lead the team

We handle
  • Source candidates
  • Sign them properly
  • Run the payroll
  • File the taxes
  • Insure the team
  • Manage exits

When something happens in India, it is ours.
The company and its cap table Yours, untouched
Employing your India hires Foo Falcon Technologies
Everything the hires create Yours by assignment

A named compliance manager owns your account. Not a queue, not a chatbot, one person who already knows your headcount and your last filing.

Account managerMedian first reply 4 to 6 hours
Recruitment coordinatorBrief to shortlist 9 days
Finance associateFilings on time 8 / 8

Built for hire number one

No minimum headcount, no platform onboarding project, no annual contract. Founders come to us with a single role and a closing window, and that is exactly the job we are shaped for.

Speed a term sheet respects

Nine days to shortlist and five days from acceptance to a working, employed team member. When a candidate is deciding between you and a funded competitor, the side that can sign them compliantly this week usually wins.

Diligence-proof from day one

When the next round's lawyers open the data room, they find real employment contracts, IP assignment and statutory filings instead of contractor invoices. Cleanup rounds are expensive; prevention is $149 a month.

A partner that scales down too

If the hire does not work out, we run the exit lawfully and the arrangement simply ends. You are never carrying an entity you have to feed.

Built for hire number one

No minimum headcount, no platform onboarding project, no annual contract. Founders come to us with a single role and a closing window, and that is exactly the job we are shaped for.

The first hire is the one that cannot go wrong.

Speed a term sheet respects

Nine days to shortlist and five days from acceptance to a working, employed team member. When a candidate is deciding between you and a funded competitor, the side that can sign them compliantly this week usually wins.

Velocity is a founder's native advantage; keep it.

Diligence-proof from day one

When the next round's lawyers open the data room, they find real employment contracts, IP assignment and statutory filings instead of contractor invoices. Cleanup rounds are expensive; prevention is $149 a month.

Raise on a structure, not an apology.

Moving someone across

When the startup becomes a company with an entity.

Founders who later incorporate in India move their team across in a single payroll cycle. Service continuity, gratuity accrual and leave balances all survive the move.

Team, roles and reporting Kept
Salaries and benefits Kept
Compliance through the switch Continuous
Product downtime 0 days

Your company graduates; nobody on the team feels the ceremony.

Supporting evidence

Check the entity before you trust it with your first hire.

Your people would be employed by Foo Falcon Technologies Pvt Ltd, Bengaluru, listed on the MCA register since 2022. The filings are public and we walk founders through them on the first call.

  • Incorporation
  • GST
  • EPFO code
  • ESIC
  • Shops and Establishments
  • PAN and TAN
  • Udyam MSME
What we verify
  • Incorporation Ministry of Corporate Affairs
  • GST Goods and Services Tax
  • EPFO code Employees Provident Fund Organisation
  • ESIC Ministry of Labour and Employment
  • Shops and Establishments Government of Karnataka
  • PAN and TAN Income Tax Department
  • Udyam MSME Government of India

Registration papers and challans shared before any signature.

200

people we have carried onto our payroll for a single client

33

founder-led and established teams we pay in India each month

5 days

between an accepted offer and a productive first day

G2 4.8 / 5 on G2, from companies employing teams in India through us.

G2 4.8 / 5 on G2, from companies employing through us.

Founders who made their first India hires this way.

What changed when the contractor patchwork was retired and the first real employees came aboard.

Video
Bharath Rasoi KS Rajeshwari Founder, Bharath Rasoi
Video
Open Theatre Anand Raj Founder, Open Theatre
Abid Hassan Verified client
Sensibull
“They moved fast and took the whole compliance side off my plate. For a founder making an early India hire, that is exactly what you want.”
Abid Hassan Founder and CEO, Sensibull
Via G2
Moonshot
“Every option was either 'set up your own entity' or a platform that quotes a great price then hits you with add-ons. Versatile was the one that actually made it simple. First payroll ran on time. No scramble.”
Angad S. Co-Founder, Moonshot
Via G2
Digital Marketing Agency
“Contracts, PF, ESI, TDS and payroll all in one place. Invoicing in USD meant zero exchange rate surprises. The compliance rigour is genuinely reassuring.”
Vedant T. Founder, Digital Marketing Agency
Via G2
Design Studio
“Setting up in a new country can get messy fast, but their India EOR made onboarding feel easy. The team is responsive, clear, and great to work with.”
Setu C. Studio Owner, Design Studio
Via G2
US Startup
“We used Versatile to hire our first employee in India after months of putting it off because the compliance side seemed like a mess. They walked us through it and now we don't think about it.”
Verified US Founder First-time Founder, US Startup
Via G2
Mid-Market Tech Co.
“Versatile consistently delivered work that was both strategically sharp and execution-ready. Their turnaround times are impressive, and they think about problems the way an in-house team would.”
Shivani K. Senior Manager, Tech TA
Via G2
Growth-stage Startup
“Their team was highly responsive, professional, and easy to work with. They made a complex process feel simple.”
Mukul S. Core Team, Growth-stage Startup

Case studies.

Largest food delivery app in India, decacorn View case study The world's largest professional network, part of Microsoft View case study Legacy US software company, publishing platforms View case study

Founder pricing: two numbers, no surprises.

One fee to find each person, one to employ them. Salary goes to the human at actuals, never marked up.

Recruitment

We find your first hires
12% of annual CTC

12% covers junior and mid roles, senior runs 15%, leadership searches are scoped individually. Invoiced only after day 90.

Open a role
  • Role scoping on one founder call
  • Shortlist inside nine days
  • Salary benchmarks for the role
  • Interview scheduling handled
  • Offer issued and negotiated
  • Nothing billed before day 90
  • Replacement search included free
  • Flows into 5-day onboarding
  • Role scoping on one founder call
  • Shortlist inside nine days
  • Salary benchmarks for the role
  • Interview scheduling handled
Plus four more inclusions
  • Offer issued and negotiated
  • Nothing billed before day 90
  • Replacement search included free
  • Flows into 5-day onboarding

Sourced the candidate yourself? Then this fee never applies.

Employer of Record

We employ them for you
$149 /employee/mo

Drops to $129 per head beyond twenty employees. Salary and statutory amounts are invoiced at actuals with a line-item breakdown.

Start a hire
  • Locally compliant contracts
  • Payroll with payslips monthly
  • PF, ESIC, PT, TDS filings
  • Group health insurance
  • Gratuity accrued correctly
  • Leave records maintained
  • Lawful exits and settlements
  • Move to your entity anytime
  • Locally compliant contracts
  • Payroll with payslips monthly
  • PF, ESIC, PT, TDS filings
  • Group health insurance
Plus four more inclusions
  • Gratuity accrued correctly
  • Leave records maintained
  • Lawful exits and settlements
  • Move to your entity anytime

The whole legal department, rented by the month.

Beyond twenty employees

$149 $129 /employee/mo

Few founders start there, but the discount is waiting at head twenty-one. Recruitment rates never change with volume.

Inside the monthly fee

  • Monthly payroll cycle
  • Every statutory filing
  • Insurance enrolment
  • Contracts and letters
  • Leave administration
  • Expense reimbursements
  • Filing calendar cover
  • A named human to call

Volume pricing

$149 $129 /employee/mo

From the twenty-first hire, $129 per head per month.

Inside the monthly fee

  • Monthly payroll cycle
  • Every statutory filing
  • Insurance enrolment
  • Contracts and letters
  • Leave administration
  • Expense reimbursements
  • Filing calendar cover
  • A named human to call

Statutory employer contributions of roughly 13% to 17% sit on top of salary, invoiced at cost. Model your first two or three hires in the EOR versus entity calculator in about two minutes.

What founders ask before their first India hire.

The questions that come up on first calls, answered the way we answer them live.

Can I really hire in India with no entity at all?

Yes. Our Bengaluru company employs your hires under Indian law, runs their payroll and carries the statutory obligations, while a service agreement between us gives you full working direction of the team. You get employees in practice without owning an employer on paper.

I am paying someone as a contractor right now. Is that a problem?

It is a growing one. A full-time contractor working under your direction looks like an employee to Indian authorities, and reclassification brings back-dated dues and penalties. Converting them onto our entity fixes the exposure and usually takes one payroll cycle.

What does a first hire actually cost me all-in?

Salary at actuals, statutory employer add-ons of roughly 13% to 17%, $149 a month to us, and a one-time 12% of annual CTC if we ran the search. There are no setup fees, deposits or minimums hiding behind those numbers.

How fast can someone start?

Shortlists arrive nine days after the kickoff call. Once your chosen candidate accepts, employment, equipment and access are live within five working days. Founders regularly go from first call to working teammate inside a month.

Who owns what my hires build?

You do. Every employment contract on our entity carries IP assignment and confidentiality terms, and the master agreement between us assigns all work product to your company. Investors' counsel can read the whole chain.

What happens if the company pivots or the hire fails?

We manage a lawful exit, including notice and final settlement, and if the person left within 90 days of joining the recruitment fee was never charged and a replacement search is free. You are never locked into headcount you no longer need.

Longer reading: Scaling India headcount between rounds · Build a team in India, the playbook · EOR for SaaS startups in India

Tell us where you are on the decision.

A role you want to hire, a team you want moved, or just the two routes to compare. A named person replies in 4 to 6 hours.

A named person replies in 4 to 6 hours, not an autoresponder.

We use these details to respond to your enquiry.

A named person replies in 4 to 6 hours, not an autoresponder. We use these details to respond to your enquiry.

What the first call covers

30 minutes

A cost comparison for your headcount, on your numbers, both routes.

  • A written cost breakdown
  • Entity documents before the call
  • PF, ESI, TDS, termination law
  • No follow-up sequence
Book a call →

You pick the time, we send a Meet link. Any timezone.

See pricing Speak to sales