Red Violet, Inc. (RDVT): History, Ownership, Mission, How It Works & Makes Money

Red Violet, Inc. (RDVT) is an identity intelligence provider, but are you defintely clear on how their data-fusion technology translates into a market capitalization near $808 million in late 2025? The company's profitable business model, which sees 77% of revenue from stable pricing contracts, drove trailing twelve-month revenue to an impressive $86.42 million USD and helped them beat Q3 2025 EPS estimates with $0.39 per share. With institutional investors like BlackRock, Inc. holding significant stakes-accounting for over 63.56% of the stock-do you know what this high-conviction ownership structure means for its future risk profile and growth strategy?

Red Violet, Inc. (RDVT) History

You're looking for the origin story of Red Violet, Inc. (RDVT), the data fusion analytics company that's been quietly demonstrating significant operating leverage. The direct takeaway is that Red Violet wasn't a garage startup; it was born from a strategic spin-off in 2018, which immediately gave it proprietary technology and a public listing, allowing it to focus sharply on identity intelligence and fraud prevention.

This history is crucial because it explains why Red Violet started with a mature platform, idiCORE, and a clear path to profitability, rather than the typical high-burn startup trajectory. To be fair, this initial structure is why their 2025 financial performance looks so strong-they skipped the early capital-intensive build phase.

Red Violet, Inc.'s Founding Timeline

Year established

Red Violet officially began operations as an independent, publicly traded company on March 26, 2018. This date marks its separation from its former parent company, Cogint, Inc., which later rebranded as Fluent, Inc.

Original location

The company established its headquarters in Boca Raton, Florida, where it remains based today.

Founding team members

The initial leadership team that guided the company through the spin-off and into its independent public life included key executives who transitioned from the predecessor business segment at Cogint, Inc.:

• Derek Dubner, Chief Executive Officer
• James Reilly, President
• Daniel MacLachlan, Chief Financial Officer

Initial capital/funding

As a spin-off, Red Violet was capitalized not by a traditional venture capital round, but by transferring the assets and liabilities of the data and analytics business segment from Cogint, Inc. This meant it began trading on the NASDAQ Capital Market with a pre-existing operational base and balance sheet, rather than needing a major external funding round to start. That's a defintely unique way to start a public company.

Red Violet, Inc.'s Evolution Milestones

Red Violet, Inc.'s Transformative Moments

The company's trajectory was shaped by three core strategic decisions that moved it from a division within a larger entity to a focused, profitable public company. The most significant moment was the 2018 spin-off, which immediately gave the new company a clear mandate: identity intelligence and risk mitigation through its proprietary CORE technology platform. This single decision cut the corporate clutter and allowed for laser-focus.

The second major shift was the development and scaling of FOREWARN. This wasn't just a new product; it was proof that their core data platform was flexible enough to create high-margin, vertical-specific solutions. By Q3 2025, the company's cash flow from operations hit a record $10.2 million, underscoring the success of this recurring revenue model. You can see more on their financial health by Breaking Down Red Violet, Inc. (RDVT) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

The third transformative moment is the company's recent demonstration of operating leverage, which is the ability to grow revenue faster than costs. Here's the quick math: analysts expect Red Violet's full-year 2025 revenue to reach approximately $87.62 million with an estimated diluted Earnings Per Share (EPS) of $0.56. This growth, combined with the Q3 2025 Adjusted EBITDA margin of 39%, shows the business model is now translating revenue gains into significant bottom-line profit and cash generation. This is a mature, profitable growth stage, not a speculative one.

Red Violet, Inc. (RDVT) Ownership Structure

Red Violet, Inc. (RDVT) operates as a publicly traded company on the NASDAQ Stock Market, which means its ownership is distributed among various institutional and individual investors. This structure ensures a degree of public accountability, but the majority of shares are controlled by large institutional funds, which significantly influences corporate governance and strategic direction.

Red Violet, Inc.'s Current Status

The company is publicly listed on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol RDVT, with a market capitalization hovering around $808 million as of November 2025. Trading activity remains consistent; for instance, on November 21, 2025, the stock closed at $53.64 per share, with 62 thousand shares traded, representing a daily value of approximately $3.32 million.

Being public requires compliance with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations, which provides transparency into the company's financials and ownership. For the full picture on their performance, you should check Breaking Down Red Violet, Inc. (RDVT) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors. For the nine months ended September 30, 2025, the company reported record revenue of $23.1 million for the third quarter alone, underscoring strong near-term growth.

Red Violet, Inc.'s Ownership Breakdown

Institutional investors hold the largest block of Red Violet, Inc. stock, giving them considerable voting power on key decisions like board appointments and major acquisitions. Insider ownership is also substantial, which is a defintely positive signal, as it aligns management's interests with shareholders. Here's the quick math on the breakdown:

The concentration of institutional ownership, over 60%, means a few large players can sway shareholder votes. Major holders include Vanguard Group Inc, which holds a significant stake, and BlackRock, Inc., one of the world's largest asset managers.

Red Violet, Inc.'s Leadership

The organization is steered by a seasoned executive team with deep experience in the identity intelligence and data analytics space, many of whom have been with the company since its inception. This stability at the top is a key factor in their consistent execution.

The leadership team is responsible for driving the company's core mission of transforming data into actionable intelligence for risk mitigation and fraud prevention.

• Derek Dubner: Chairman & Chief Executive Officer (CEO). He has over two decades of experience in the data and analytics industry.
• James Reilly: President. He also serves as the principal operating officer.
• Daniel MacLachlan: Chief Financial Officer (CFO). He provides financial oversight and strategy.
• Jeff Dell: Chief Information Officer (CIO).
• Angus Macnab: Chief Technology Officer (CTO). He has been instrumental in building the company's data fusion and entity resolution capabilities.
• James Frasche: Chief Operating Officer (COO).

This team's tenure and alignment are strong; their Q3 2025 results, for example, showed a record adjusted EBITDA of $9.0 million, a 39% margin, which speaks to their operational efficiency.

Red Violet, Inc. (RDVT) Mission and Values

Red Violet, Inc. operates with a core purpose to transform fragmented data into intelligence, empowering organizations to make confident decisions and reduce systemic risk. This commitment to 'identity intelligence' is defintely the cultural bedrock that drives their impressive financial performance, like the record-breaking $23.1 million in revenue for Q3 2025.

You're looking at a company whose cultural DNA is rooted in innovation and trust, which directly translates to its product success in high-stakes sectors like law enforcement and financial services. This isn't just corporate speak; it's the operating manual for a business that achieved a 39% Adjusted EBITDA margin in the third quarter of 2025. Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Red Violet, Inc. (RDVT).

Given Company's Core Purpose

The company's core purpose is to deliver proprietary technologies and applied analytics that empower businesses to make well-informed decisions, reduce risk, and detect fraud. This focus on actionable intelligence is why their platform, idiCORE, is a critical tool for over 9,800 customers as of Q3 2025, up by over 300 new customers in that quarter alone. This is what it means to align mission with market execution.

Official mission statement

While Red Violet, Inc. does not always use a single, static mission statement, their consistent operational goal is to:

• Provide best-in-class data and analytical solutions that empower organizations to detect fraud, mitigate risk, and make confident decisions.

This mission is supported by their drive to connect disparate data points, which is the engine behind their 84% Adjusted Gross Margin in Q3 2025. Here's the quick math: high-value, proprietary data solutions mean better pricing power and higher margins.

Vision statement

Red Violet's vision is a clear, concise statement of their long-term aspiration, mapping their identity intelligence platform to a global impact.

• To be the trusted source of intelligence that powers a safer world.

This vision guides their expansion into safety-sensitive areas, such as the real estate market, where their FOREWARN solution has expanded to over 590 Realtor® Associations. That's a concrete example of their vision in action, reducing risk for professionals before face-to-face engagements.

Given Company slogan/tagline

The most commonly used phrase that captures the essence of their technology and service delivery is:

• Transforming Data Into Intelligence.

It's a simple promise. You give them data, and they give you intelligence that drives real-world results, like the $10.2 million in cash flow from operations they generated in Q3 2025.

Red Violet, Inc. (RDVT) How It Works

Red Violet, Inc. operates as a leading analytics and information solutions provider, using proprietary technology to transform massive public and private datasets into actionable identity intelligence for its customers. Simply put, they help organizations verify who people are, where they are, and how they relate to others in real-time to mitigate risk and reduce fraud.

Red Violet, Inc.'s Product/Service Portfolio

Red Violet, Inc.'s Operational Framework

The company's core value creation rests on its intelligent, cloud-native technology platform, CORE™, which ingests, cleanses, and links billions of data points to create a holistic view of an identity.

• Data Ingestion and Cleansing: They continuously acquire and process vast amounts of public and proprietary information, standardizing the data to ensure accuracy.
• Identity Resolution: The CORE™ platform applies sophisticated analytical capabilities and proprietary algorithms to connect disparate data fragments-names, addresses, phone numbers, businesses, and assets-into a single, unified identity profile.
• Real-Time Delivery: This identity intelligence is delivered to customers through its flagship products, idiCORE and FOREWARN, typically via a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model or transactional access.
• Revenue Model: Revenue is primarily generated from long-term Pricing Contracts, which accounted for approximately 75% of total revenue in the third quarter of 2025, providing a predictable, recurring stream. The rest comes from Transactional Customers who pay per search.

This whole process is built to be fast and scalable. You get clarity from noise, quickly.

Red Violet, Inc.'s Strategic Advantages

Red Violet's market success stems from its technology platform's architecture and its superior data economics, which allow for high profitability even against larger competitors like TransUnion.

• Proprietary CORE™ Platform: The cloud-native design offers significant operating leverage; this led to a record adjusted gross margin of 84% in Q3 2025, up one percentage point year-over-year.
• Sticky, High-Retention Customer Base: The company maintains a strong gross revenue retention rate of 96%, indicating customers find the identity intelligence critical and difficult to replace.
• Financial Strength and Growth: The business model is highly profitable, with Q3 2025 adjusted net income hitting a record of $5.88 million. Plus, the company operates with a debt-free balance sheet, giving it flexibility for continued investment and growth.
• Targeted Vertical Dominance: The FOREWARN product, for example, has secured contracts with over 590 REALTOR® Associations across the U.S., creating a defensible niche in the real estate safety sector.

For more on the long-term view, you should review their Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Red Violet, Inc. (RDVT). The trailing twelve months revenue as of November 2025 was approximately $86.42 million, showing solid top-line momentum driven by this strategy.

Red Violet, Inc. (RDVT) How It Makes Money

Red Violet generates nearly all its revenue by selling access to actionable identity intelligence through its cloud-based data fusion and analytics platforms, primarily idiCORE and FOREWARN. Customers pay either a predictable subscription fee for continuous access or a variable, usage-based fee for specific data lookups to verify identities, detect fraud, and mitigate risk.

Red Violet's Revenue Breakdown

As of the third quarter ending September 30, 2025, Red Violet's revenue model is heavily weighted toward recurring, contractual relationships, which provides a strong foundation for financial stability. This mix shows a slight, but important, shift in the revenue composition compared to previous periods.

Business Economics

The core of Red Violet's financial engine is its high-margin, recurring revenue model built on proprietary data and technology. The business is fundamentally a data-as-a-service (DaaS) provider, meaning its cost of goods sold (COGS) is relatively low, leading to impressive profitability metrics.

• Revenue Predictability: The 75% of revenue coming from Pricing Contracts-typically annual or longer-term agreements with auto-renewal-offers a highly predictable revenue stream, which is a key indicator of business health.
• High Gross Margin: The company reported a gross margin of 73% in Q3 2025, which is an increase from 70% in the prior year period. The adjusted gross margin, which excludes non-cash depreciation and amortization, was even stronger at 84%. This tells you the cost to deliver the service is low relative to the price.
• Customer Retention: Gross revenue retention remained strong at 96% in the most recent trailing twelve-month period, improving by two percentage points year-over-year. That's a defintely solid number for a subscription business.
• Customer Acquisition: The platforms continue to gain traction; in Q3 2025 alone, Red Violet added 304 new idiCORE customers, bringing the total to 9,853, and added 25,538 users to FOREWARN, reaching over 372,209 total users.

Red Violet's Financial Performance

Red Violet's Q3 2025 results, announced on November 5, 2025, show accelerating growth and significant margin expansion, confirming the scalability of its model. Here's the quick math on the key performance indicators (KPIs) for the quarter ended September 30, 2025:

• Total Revenue: Hit a record $23.1 million, marking a 21% increase year-over-year. Trailing twelve-month (TTM) revenue as of that date reached approximately $86.42 million.
• Net Income: Surged 145% year-over-year to $4.2 million, showing strong flow-through from revenue to the bottom line.
• Adjusted EBITDA: Increased 35% to a record $9.0 million, with the Adjusted EBITDA margin expanding to 39% from 35% in the prior year.
• Cash Flow: Net cash provided by operating activities was a record $10.2 million, a 40% increase, while free cash flow reached a record $7.3 million. This strong cash generation allowed the company to increase its share repurchase authorization by $15.0 million to a total of $30.0 million.

The company's debt-free balance sheet and robust cash position-with $45.4 million in cash and cash equivalents as of September 30, 2025-gives them a lot of flexibility for strategic investments in AI and product development. For a deeper dive into the company's core principles, you should check out their Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Red Violet, Inc. (RDVT).

Red Violet, Inc. (RDVT) Market Position & Future Outlook

Red Violet, Inc. is strategically positioned as a high-growth, pure-play identity intelligence provider, leveraging its cloud-native CORE™ platform to deliver real-time data analytics. The company's focus on high-margin, recurring revenue solutions like FOREWARN and idiCORE has driven strong financial performance, with trailing twelve-month (TTM) revenue reaching $86.42 million as of Q3 2025. This momentum, coupled with a record $10.2 million in operating cash flow in Q3 2025, signals a solid financial foundation for aggressive market expansion.

Competitive Landscape

The identity intelligence and data fusion market is highly competitive, dominated by large, diversified information services conglomerates. Red Violet competes by focusing on its technological agility and superior data-linking capabilities, offering a modern, cloud-first alternative to legacy systems.

Here's the quick math: Red Violet's TTM revenue of $86.42 million against the estimated $3.28 billion 2025 US Identity Verification Market size places its market share at approximately 2.6%. This small share highlights the significant growth runway, but also the challenge of competing with giants whose market shares are structurally higher due to their entrenched positions in the financial and government sectors. LexisNexis Risk Solutions, for example, is consistently ranked as the number one provider in Digital Identity Verification solutions.

Opportunities & Challenges

The company's future trajectory hinges on capitalizing on the rapid growth of the identity verification market, which is projected to expand at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 13.20% from 2025 to 2033 in the US. Still, regulatory shifts and reliance on a single core platform present tangible risks.

Industry Position

Red Violet is an agile disruptor in the identity intelligence sector, not a market share leader, but a technology leader. Its position is defined by three key factors:

• Technology Moat: The proprietary CORE™ platform's ability to perform real-time data fusion (uncovering relevance between disparate data points) is a structural advantage over competitors burdened by older, legacy systems.
• High Profitability Profile: The company maintains a high-efficiency model, demonstrated by a Q3 2025 adjusted gross margin of 84%, which is a sign of sustainable growth and pricing power.
• Recurring Revenue Stability: A significant portion of revenue, ranging from 74% to 78%, comes from sticky, long-term pricing contracts, providing predictable and resilient cash flow regardless of short-term economic fluctuations.

The company's commitment to its core values and long-term vision is detailed further in Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Red Violet, Inc. (RDVT).