Affiliate marketing is one of the most dynamic and high-potential channels in digital marketing. But too often, affiliate managers are stuck digging through spreadsheets and juggling multiple things just to answer basic performance questions. Kyle White, CEO and Co-Founder of Refinery Affiliate, has spent his career in the Affiliate Marketing space—and set out to build the platform he always wished he had: one that quickly turns complex data into clear, actionable insights without the manual grind.
After leading affiliate programs at Uber, Overstock, Avantlink, and 1-800 Contacts, and working on product teams at companies like Meta, impact.com, and Pluralsight, Kyle saw a frustrating pattern: the affiliate channel was not living up to its full potential. This left obvious opportunities behind and money was being left on the table.
“I’ve seen a lot of organizations where the affiliate channel was misunderstood and underutilized,” he shared. “Battling internal politics, fighting to prove impact, and spending hours combing through data from 5 different reports to help make a point.” There is a lot to do for affiliate managers, and this often means there are opportunity costs left and right.
That’s why Kyle started Refinery Affiliate.
Built for the Managers in the Trenches
Affiliate managers are strategic operators and relationship managers, but most of their time is spent on reactive, manual work. Kyle wanted to build a tool that flips that dynamic. One that elevates the affiliate channel by giving managers the clarity, automation, and insight they need to act faster and scale smarter.
With Refinery, Kyle and the team have built an AI-powered platform that helps affiliate teams:
- Surface performance-driving insights—no more hours digging through spreadsheets
- Prove the value of optimizations by attributing a manager’s actions
- Automatically tracking performance of specific affiliate cohorts
- Understand placement ROI at a glance
- Discover new high-potential publishers
- Detect fraud automatically with AI-powered pattern recognition
- And most of all—save time to focus on strategy, not just reporting
“This was made for you,” Kyle says. “Whether you’re running a brand’s affiliate program or an AE on the agency side, Refinery gives you leverage to do your best work.”
From Concept to Launch
Over the past several months, Kyle and the team have been deep in interviews with affiliate managers, fine tuning the product, and building something they believe is truly best-in-class.
The industry is taking notice, too: Refinery was recently shortlisted for the RAV 2025 Innovation in Performance Marketing Technology and AI award, a nod to the early impact and promise of the platform.
RAV 2025 Innovation in Performance Marketing Technology and AI award
“We want to help affiliate managers win, and help the industry get more recognition that it deserves,” Kyle says.
Refinery is live and ready for affiliate teams to try out today
