Who we are
We started Ikuto because we kept seeing the same problem: companies building great products couldn't find the SE and FDE talent they needed to grow. The recruiters they tried didn't know the market. We decided to be the ones who do.
Ikuto was founded in January 2021 by Dave Stephens and Josh Hill. We're a specialist recruitment firm — FDE, SE, and client-facing Solutions roles only. That's it. We don't do generalist tech recruitment, and we don't pretend to know markets we don't.
We place talent at Seed through Series B SaaS and AI companies in the UK and US — New York and San Francisco are our two main US markets. Our clients are mostly founders and VPs of Sales or Solutions who are making an important hire and can't afford to get it wrong.
The team
Co-founder · Delivery & Operations
Dave runs delivery at Ikuto. He oversees search operations, candidate relationships, and client service — he's the one making sure the 5-day shortlist commitment is actually met.
Co-founder · New Business & Sales
Josh leads new business at Ikuto. He's the first conversation most clients have with the firm — focused on understanding the brief, setting expectations, and building long-term client partnerships.
We're always worth a conversation — even if you're not actively hiring yet.