Codefirst

Codefirst is a 40-person Istanbul-based software development shop founded to build scalable applications across mobile, web, Web3, and AI. The company claims 20+ projects delivered and 35+ active clients spread across five countries. Their website positions them as generalists comfortable working in fintech, telecom, retail, and travel—sectors where they've worked with names like Turkcell, Türk Telekom, Garanti BBVA, Teknosa, and Ebebek. The source material doesn't specify a founding year, but the breadth of their client roster and stated team size suggest a mid-stage operation that's moved beyond startup phase.

Services and capabilities

Codefirst's service menu spans product strategy, UI/UX design, mobile and web development, AI strategy, and blockchain solutions. They also offer staff augmentation, dedicated teams, and turnkey projects—the standard engagement models for shops their size.

On the blockchain side, they shipped a memecoin on the Base network described as offering "low-cost and high-speed transactions" with a "secure liquidity pool." They've also built backend and design work for unnamed Web3 initiatives tied to their larger client relationships.

Their backend work includes a notable example: a microservices transformation for Ebebek, an e-commerce platform. Codefirst migrated the company from a monolithic architecture to microservices, which they claim enabled "faster releases" and improved "deployment agility, fault isolation, and team autonomy." The scope of that work—redesigning infrastructure for a scaling e-commerce business—is the kind of engagement that signals technical depth beyond UI work.

Mobile development credits include FastOnward, a flight-reservation app for visa applications that shows 5K+ downloads and a 5.0 rating on its app store listing. They've also built Eksper Panel, an insurance adjuster tool that digitizes workflows from damage filing to inspection reports. Both are modest consumer-facing apps, not marquee names, but they're real shipped products with measurable traction.

Notable work

They've done work with Turkcell and Türk Telekom—Turkey's largest telecom operators—on backend, design, and AI initiatives, though the source doesn't specify deliverables or outcomes. The same is true for Garanti BBVA (banking), Teknosa (retail electronics), and SMPL (a marketing-tech platform). These are credible clients, but the website material reads like case study headers without substance: "we partnered to craft seamless digital journeys" doesn't tell you what was built or what moved.

The clearest exception is Ebebek. Codefirst took a rapidly growing e-commerce platform and rebuilt its technical foundation around microservices. That's infrastructure-level work, not a feature sprint.

How they work

Codefirst offers three engagement models: staff augmentation, dedicated teams, and turnkey projects. They don't publish hourly rates or retainer pricing on their site. One client testimonial (from Codease's co-founder Veysel Karslı) mentions the team "maintained an effective project approach, responding promptly to the client's feedback" and completed work "faster than planned," which suggests a responsive, iterative workflow rather than rigid waterfall. A CTO testimonial credits them for filling ML engineer, backend engineer, and frontend engineer positions through what sounds like a staff augmentation engagement, noting "effective communication flow almost daily."

Team and credentials

The team is 40 people based in Istanbul. No founding year is listed. The source mentions no certifications (ISO 27001, SOC 2, GDPR compliance) and no partner badges (AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft). No Clutch or G2 ratings are cited. The site is in English and Turkish; no specific language proficiencies for the team are stated beyond the assumption that they work with English-speaking clients. Founder or leadership names don't appear in the source material.