Independent recruiter network
An independent recruiter network built for startups
Refery is not an open recruiter marketplace. It is a managed startup recruiting network: Refery selects the specialists and operator scouts relevant to the search, vets the resulting introductions, and gives the company one accountable point of contact.
An illustration of how a Refery search is presented. The names and grades are examples, not real candidates.
Our clients are backed by investors including:
When this search fits
The roles Refery is built for.
Use Refery when you want the reach and specialization of independent recruiters without coordinating many vendors, plus referral access that ordinary outbound sourcing does not create.
- Specialist engineering searches
- AI and technical customer roles
- Founding GTM searches
- Senior and hard-to-reach candidates
- Stage-specific startup leadership
How Refery runs the search
From brief to a reasoned shortlist.
One brief
Refery agrees the role, evidence, process, and commercial terms with the company.
The brief- Must own
- A search a specialist can work end to end
- Stage
- VC-backed, Seed to Series B
- Still open
- Location, band, and the first milestone
Scope and fee agreed before the search15%The right network
Relevant specialists and trusted operator scouts work the search; companies do not manage a crowd.
The shortlist, with the reasoningEthan ChoCo-founder intro · work reviewedA+Ines CarvalhoSpecialist search · screenedA−Lena BrandtScout intro · screenedAOne shortlist
Refery screens and explains each introduction before it reaches the hiring team.
What comes back- Evidence
- What they owned, and how we know
- Confirmed
- Interest, location, notice, comp expectation
- To test
- The one thing the interview should settle
An illustration of how a Refery search is presented. The names and grades are examples, not real candidates.
What the shortlist should prove
Evidence, not title matching.
- Specialization by role and startup stage
- Transparent candidate ownership
- Consistent screening and feedback
- No retainer and no exclusivity
Commercial terms
- Placement fee
- 15% to 25%of first-year base salary, paid only when you hire
- Retainer and exclusivity
- Nonerun Refery alongside your own channels
- Guarantee
- 90 daysunder the client agreement
The exact scope and fee are agreed before the search starts. See fees and terms →
From a real search
Recruiter judgment reaches the founder
One partner did more than submit names: they spotted a role combining product engineering with specialist work covered by another open seat. Refery brought the specific question to the founder, got agreement on a broader profile and relayed it back to the partner.
That exchange shows the value of a coordinated network. Search feedback can reach the person who can change the requirement, then return to the recruiter with an actionable answer.
The useful lesson
The network contributes market judgment as well as candidate reach. Agree who owns that feedback loop before starting a search.
Read the anonymized search story →Start a search
Tell us what this person needs to own.
Share the role, the outcome, and the constraints. Refery replies with how the search would run and what the shortlist should prove.