Referly
Referly is an online referral system for social networks, founded in 2012 in San Francisco, that tracks links users share and rewards them when their friends take specified actions.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2012
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Referly does
Referly is an online referral system for social networks, founded in 2012 and headquartered in San Francisco. The platform tracks the links users share across social channels and rewards them when their friends take specified actions, converting word-of-mouth into a structured acquisition and incentive mechanism. Referly is classified as a private for-profit company with 11-50 employees on record.
The company raised approximately $1.3 million across two funding rounds: a $1.0M seed in October 2012 with participation from Y Combinator, 500 Global, Ignition Partners, and New Enterprise Associates — a top-tier seed syndicate for a 2012-class startup — followed by a $300K round in September 2013 from undisclosed investors. In February 2013, Referly acquired LaunchGram for an undisclosed amount, indicating an early-stage push to consolidate adjacent functionality within the social referral category through inorganic moves.
No detailed product architecture, pricing, customer, distribution, or operational data is present in the source material, and no post-2013 activity has been disclosed. Current operational status, customer base, revenue trajectory, and competitive positioning cannot be verified from the available data, which represents a significant information gap for any investment-grade analysis.
Referly firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Referly
- Legal name
- Referral Rock
- Website
- https://refer.ly
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2012
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Referly is an online referral system for social networks, founded in 2012 in San Francisco, that tracks links users share and rewards them when their friends take specified actions.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Referly industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Referral Marketing Software
- NAICS
- Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (519)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Referral & Advocacy Program Services (MPAAAIAO)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Social Affiliate & Referral Commerce Platforms (CRAFANAI)
Keywords
Where Referly is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Referly business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Subscription Licensing - Professional Plans: Tiered subscription plans for service businesses and B2B companies. Plans include dedicated program advisor, reward recommendations, tailored messaging, and technical integration assistance. Plans come in Professional, Engage, and Scale families.
- Subscription Licensing - Engage Plans: Subscription plans for e-commerce and consumer app businesses with automated reward triggers at checkout, two-sided rewards, and one-click refer-a-friend sharing.
- Subscription Licensing - Scale Plans: Enterprise and franchise subscription plans with consolidated reporting across multiple locations, separate programs per location/branch, and single admin dashboard management.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | Professional Plans - for service businesses and B2B companies |
| Subscription | Monthly | Engage Plans - for e-commerce and consumer apps |
| Subscription | Monthly | Scale Plans - for enterprise and franchises |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels8 records
Referly product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Referly operates an online referral system for social networks that tracks the links users share and rewards them when their friends take specified actions. The platform ingests link shares from participating users, attributes resulting friend actions back to the originating sharer, and distributes rewards accordingly.
Product overview
Referral Rock is a unified referral marketing platform that runs complete referral programs automatically. The platform consists of the core Referral Rock Platform supporting three program types: Customer Referral Programs (turning customers into advocates), Brand Ambassador Programs (for invite-only super fans), and Partner & Affiliate Programs (for strategic partners). Supporting modules include the Member Portal (for sharing and tracking), Program Recruiters (for frontline team enrollment), and Reward Management (for automated payouts). The platform includes 50+ integrations with CRM, e-commerce, and marketing tools, built-in email campaigns, fraud detection, and analytics. Concierge Onboarding provides dedicated advisors for setup and optimization.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Referly Referral Platform Online referral system for social networks that tracks the links users share and rewards users for their friends' actions. The platform serves individuals who share links on social channels and merchants or partners who benefit from the resulting friend actions.
Quantifiable outcome
- 86% of referrals came within first 90 days (per one Referral Rock customer)
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use Referly
Customer profileNamed customers8 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Referly technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration9 records
AI capability2 records
Feature7 records
Referly partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.
- HubSpotcoreNative integration with HubSpot CRM enabling referral tracking that flows into the CRM, reward triggering at CRM stages, and synchronized customer data between platforms.
- SalesforcecoreNative Salesforce sync allowing referral tracking to connect to Salesforce CRM with data flowing between the referral program and customer records.
- ShopifycorePre-built Shopify integration for e-commerce brands enabling two-sided rewards to fire automatically at checkout and refer-a-friend sharing after purchase.
- BigCommercecoreIntegration with BigCommerce for e-commerce referral automation, automatic reward triggering, and seamless checkout integration.
- WooCommercecoreWooCommerce integration enabling referral program capabilities for WordPress-based e-commerce stores.
- ZapiersupportingZapier integration allowing users to connect Referral Rock with 5,000+ apps and automate workflows between the referral platform and other business tools.
- MailchimpsupportingIntegration with Mailchimp for email marketing synchronization, enabling referral program emails and campaigns to flow through existing Mailchimp workflows.
- StripecoreStripe integration for payment processing and reward payout management within the referral program.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves3 records
Expansion highlights2 records
Referly competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- SaaSquatch: SaaSquatch is a referral program platform purpose-built for SaaS companies, supporting customer referrals, partner programs, and reward triggers tied to subscription events — directly competitive with Referral Rock's Professional/B2B SaaS plans.
- Extole: Extole is an enterprise-grade referral marketing platform offering advocate, customer, and partner programs with CRM integrations, comparable to Referral Rock's Scale and Professional plans targeting mid-market and enterprise customers.
- Friendbuy: Friendbuy is a leading referral and loyalty platform for e-commerce and B2C brands, offering customer referral programs, ambassador programs, and tiered rewards — a near-direct functional overlap with Referral Rock's core use cases.
- Ambassador: Ambassador is a referral and affiliate marketing platform with partner and customer referral programs across multiple verticals, comparable to Referral Rock's customer and partner/affiliate program offerings.
- ReferralCandy: ReferralCandy provides e-commerce referral programs with automated rewards, Shopify/BigCommerce integrations, and member portals — competing head-to-head with Referral Rock in the SMB and DTC e-commerce segment.
- Tapfiliate: Tapfiliate is an affiliate and referral tracking platform with e-commerce and SaaS integrations, competing with Referral Rock's Partner & Affiliate Programs and offering similar commission tracking and payout automation.
- Influitive: Influitive operates advocate marketing and brand ambassador hubs that overlap with Referral Rock's Brand Ambassador Programs, both targeting enterprise customer communities and engagement workflows.
- Yotpo: Yotpo's referral program module (formerly part of its broader reviews/loyalty/SMS suite) directly competes with Referral Rock's customer referral and brand ambassador offerings, targeting the same e-commerce and DTC customer base with comparable two-sided reward mechanics.
- Viral Loops: Viral Loops offers templated referral campaigns and giveaway-based viral marketing for SaaS and e-commerce, overlapping with Referral Rock's self-serve PLG motion and template-driven onboarding.
Broad incumbents
- HubSpot: HubSpot's CRM and Marketing Hub increasingly bundle native referral and partner-tracking capabilities, and is simultaneously a Core integration partner — making it both a distribution channel and a competitive incumbent for Referral Rock.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat2 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Referly social profiles
Digital presenceReferly compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Referly financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Referly leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Referly funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors4 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Referly M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A1 record
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Referly
What does Referly do?
Referly operates an online referral system for social networks that tracks the links users share and rewards them when their friends take specified actions. The platform ingests link shares from participating users, attributes resulting friend actions back to the originating sharer, and distributes rewards accordingly.
Is Referly a public or private company?
Referly is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Referly founded?
Referly was founded in 2012. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Referly based?
Referly is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does Referly make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Subscription Licensing - Professional Plans are the primary driver. The others are subscription Licensing - Engage Plans and subscription Licensing - Scale Plans.
Who are Referly's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are SaaSquatch, Extole, Friendbuy, Ambassador, ReferralCandy, Tapfiliate, Influitive, Yotpo and Viral Loops. HubSpot is listed as a broad incumbent.
Does Referly have an API?
Yes. Referral Rock provides API documentation for technical integration. The platform supports pre-built connections to popular CRMs, e-commerce, and marketing platforms, enabling data flow between referral programs and existing systems. Developer documentation is at docs.referralrock.com.
What industry is Referly in?
Referly's product category is Referral Marketing Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAAAIAO, Referral & Advocacy Program Services, with a secondary code of CRAFANAI, Social Affiliate & Referral Commerce Platforms. Its NAICS code is 519.