Tephra

What Tephra does

Tephra is a privately held IT and retail staffing services firm headquartered in South Amboy, New Jersey (with a referenced Woodbridge, NJ location). Founded around 2005-2006 and operating for over 19 years, the company provides three core service lines: recruiting and headhunting for permanent placements of specialized technical talent (such as Rails developers and business analysts with financial domain expertise), contract staffing with flexible right-to-hire arrangements, and value-added services including assessment testing, pre-employment background checks, relocation assistance, and salary surveys.

The firm targets employers ranging from startup ventures to multinational corporations seeking IT core staff and executive talent, with services delivered nationwide from its New Jersey base. Its go-to-market is sales-led and direct, relying on the company website (a dated WordPress site) and a careers portal as the primary marketing channels. Revenue is generated through professional services fees — placement fees for permanent searches and hourly or project rates for contract engagements — with pricing not publicly disclosed and described internally as "reasonable."

Tephra operates as a small firm (11-50 employees per firmographic data) with no disclosed funding, partnerships, awards, regulatory actions, or management team information in public sources. The digital presence shows limited recent activity, with the most recent dated blog post from 2018 and a broken RSS feed, suggesting minimal investment in ongoing digital marketing or content operations.

Name

Tephra

Legal name

Tephra

Website

https://tephrainc.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Tephra is a privately held IT and retail staffing firm based in New Jersey, providing permanent recruiting, contract staffing, and value-added talent services to employers ranging from startups to multinational corporations across the United States.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

IT and Retail Staffing Services

NAICS

Temporary Help Services (561320), Employment Placement Agencies (561311)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

Temp-to-Hire Staffing (BPACACAG)

Keywords

• IT staffing services
• Retail staffing
• Executive recruiting
• Contract staffing
• Talent acquisition

Headquarters

HQ city

Woodbridge

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Recruiting and Placement Services: The company provides recruiting and headhunting services for employers seeking hard-to-find technical talent such as Rails developers and business analysts with specialized domain expertise. Placement fees are typically earned upon successful candidate placement.
2. Contract Staffing: Provides contract staffing solutions bringing professional contractors to client projects. The company offers flexible arrangements with reasonable rates and right-to-hire clause flexibility. Revenue is generated through contractor hourly or project rates.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Tephra is an IT and retail staffing services firm that recruits and places technical professionals and contractors for client employers. It offers recruiting/headhunting for permanent hires, contract staffing with right-to-hire flexibility, and value-added services such as assessment testing, background checks, relocation assistance, and salary surveys. The company serves employers ranging from startup ventures to multinational corporations nationwide from its New Jersey headquarters.

Product overview

Tephra is an IT & retail staffing services provider offering a portfolio of talent acquisition solutions. The core offerings include IT Recruiting and Staffing for permanent placements, Contract Staffing for flexible contractor arrangements, and Value-Added Services as add-on support features. These services work together to deliver end-to-end recruitment solutions for employers ranging from startups to multinational corporations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Direct peers

• Insight Global: Large US staffing and recruiting firm with a major IT staffing division serving enterprise and mid-market clients with contract, contract-to-hire, and direct placement models — directly comparable offering to Tephra across IT verticals.
• Kforce Inc. Public US staffing firm specializing in Technology and Finance & Accounting, providing contract staffing and direct hire across IT roles — closely comparable specialty alignment with Tephra's IT and financial-domain focus.
• TEKsystems: One of the largest IT staffing providers in North America, offering contract, contract-to-hire, and full-time placement for developers, analysts, and infrastructure talent — directly competes in Tephra's core IT contract and right-to-hire categories.
• Apex Systems: IT and engineering staffing firm providing contract, contract-to-hire, and direct placement services to Fortune 500 and mid-market clients — directly mirrors Tephra's hybrid perm/contract IT staffing model.
• CyberCoders (Recruiters Inetwork): Tech-focused recruiting and direct hire firm placing developers, engineers, and other IT professionals — comparable niche as Tephra's Rails developer and analyst search work, with a heavier lean on permanent placements.
• Mondo Staffing: US IT and digital staffing agency focusing on contract, contract-to-hire, and direct hire for technology roles — directly comparable boutique-style IT staffing model with right-to-hire offerings.
• Beacon Hill Staffing Group: Multi-discipline US staffing firm with dedicated Technology, Finance, and HR divisions offering contract and direct-hire solutions — directly comparable specialty IT staffing line of business.

Broad incumbents

• Robert Half: Largest US specialized talent firm with significant IT staffing (Robert Half Technology) plus broader finance, legal, and admin staffing — broader portfolio but overlapping core service in IT recruiting and contract staffing.
• Hays plc: Global recruitment group with deep IT, technology, and financial services desks running permanent, contract, and temp staffing — comparable specialty placement operations though globally scaled rather than NJ-based.

Regional players

• Ascent Services Group: Denver-based IT consulting and staffing firm providing contract and direct hire placements across technology roles — comparable IT contract staffing model though US-regionally anchored differently from Tephra's NJ base.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/tephrainc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Tephra