Referee Magazine

What Referee Magazine does

Referee, Inc. is a privately-held California corporation founded in 2018 and headquartered in Lancaster, California. The company operates a cloud-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform branded "Electronic Employment Verification™" that allows verified U.S. employer subscribers to electronically cross-reference an applicant's employment history and salary without phone calls, emails, or the use of social security numbers. The platform's underlying database, called the Recorded Employee Filing System (R.E.F.S.™), is described as "America's first and only universal electronic employment reference service" and is designed to surface both disclosed and omitted job references on an applicant's resume.

The core product is the patent-pending EEV™ (Electronic Employment Verification) tool, which is accessed through a subscriber web dashboard. Supporting products include Data Share™, a patent-pending application that lets authorized users upload basic applicant reference data into the encrypted R.E.F.S.™ cloud database, and the Seed Agreement™ program, a quid pro quo arrangement offering one year of free premium service to employers who contribute their own employee data to expand the database. The company's intellectual property portfolio includes multiple patent-pending filings covering EEV™, R.E.F.S.™, and Data Share™, alongside registered trademarks including Referee®, Seed Agreement™, and America's Seed®.

The business is monetized through three subscription tiers: a free Divergence™ plan with limited functionality, a Behold™ plan at $19.99 per month (or $238.88 annually) with EEV™ searches and single-user access, and a Phoenix™ plan at $29.99 per month (or $359.88 annually) that adds Data Share™ and multi-user login. Go-to-market is direct-to-consumer/self-serve through the refereeinc.com website, with application requirements that include business credentialing, EIN submission, and identity verification before access is granted. Primary customer segments are U.S. HR departments and hiring managers, verified subscriber employers, and financial service providers that need employment and salary verification for credit/loan decisions.

Name

Referee Magazine

Legal name

Referee, Inc.

Website

https://refereeinc.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Referee, Inc. operates a cloud-based SaaS platform that lets U.S. employer subscribers electronically verify applicant employment history and salary without phone calls or social security numbers. It serves HR departments, hiring managers, and financial service providers through tiered subscription plans.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Employment Verification Software

NAICS

Investigation and Personal Background Check Services (561611), Employment Placement Agencies and Executive Search Services (56131)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

Employment Verification (Work History & References) (BPACALAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Continuous Monitoring & Post-Hire Screening (BPACALAJ), Employee Verification & Background Check Coordination (BPAAAIAG), Credential, Education & Professional License Verification (BPAKAEAI)

Keywords

• Employment verification software
• Electronic reference checking
• HR background screening
• Workforce verification platform
• Salary verification services

Headquarters

HQ city

Lancaster

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. SaaS Subscription - Basic Plan: Free tier providing limited access to platform features for initial account holders.
2. SaaS Subscription - Premium Plans: Monthly and annual subscription plans ($19.99/month or $29.99/month for Data Share tier) providing access to EEV™ search tools, data management, and multiple user logins (Phoenix™ plan).
3. Seed Agreement Program: Quid pro quo arrangement where employers receive 1 year of free premium service in exchange for sharing employee data to saturate the R.E.F.S.™ database.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Referee, Inc. sells a cloud-based SaaS platform for electronic employment verification. Subscribers run electronic employment and salary searches through the patent-pending EEV™ tool, share employee reference data via Data Share™, and access the underlying R.E.F.S.™ universal reference database via a web dashboard, all delivered through monthly and annual subscription plans to verified U.S. employers.

Product overview

Referee, Inc. offers a cloud-based SaaS platform for electronic employment verification services. The core products include EEV™ (Electronic Employment Verification), a patent-pending tool that cross-references applicant employment experiences without phone calls or emails, and Data Share™, which enables secure sharing of applicant reference data. Both products operate through the R.E.F.S.™ (Recorded Employee Filing System) database - described as America's first universal electronic employment reference service. The platform is available through subscription tiers: the free Divergence™ plan (limited access), the Behold™ plan ($19.99/month) with single-user EEV access, and the premium Phoenix™ plan ($29.99/month) with multiple user functionality and full Data Share access. The Seed Agreement™ program offers free premium service to employers who contribute employee data to expand the database.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• EEV™: Patent-pending Electronic Employment Verification tool used for electronically cross-referencing an applicant's employment experiences without making phone calls or sending emails.
• R.E.F.S.™
• Data Share™

Products and services

• EEV™ (Electronic Employment Verification)

Quantifiable outcome

• Exaggerated and redacted work histories will become obsolete through comprehensive database coverage

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Accurate Background: U.S. employment background screening provider for HR, hiring managers, and tenant screening; competes with Referee on employment verification and reference checking.
• HireRight: Global employment screening provider offering employment history, reference, and background checks to U.S. employers; directly competes with Referee on employment verification use cases for HR.
• Checkr: AI-powered background check platform serving U.S. employers and HR teams for pre-employment screening; directly competes with Referee on employment verification and screening, with far larger scale and integrations.
• Truework: Employment and income verification network used by lenders and HR teams to verify applicant employment and salary; overlaps with Referee's financial-services segment and HR use cases.

Broad incumbents

• The Work Number (Equifax): Equifax-operated employment and income verification database widely used by lenders, employers, and verifiers; competes directly with Referee's R.E.F.S. for employment and salary verification, especially for financial-service use cases.
• Sterling (Sterling Talent Solutions): Large incumbent background screening and identity verification provider for employers; overlaps with Referee's HR-facing employment and credential verification, but operates a much broader screening portfolio.

Emerging players

• Plaid (Income Verification): Data connectivity platform with an income/employment verification offering used by fintechs and lenders; partial overlap with Referee's financial-services use case but anchored in bank-account data rather than employer records.
• Veremark: Digital background and reference checking platform for global employers; overlaps with Referee on employment/reference verification, with a more international footprint.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/referee-inc

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 →

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