diff --git a/backend/services/referral-service/Dockerfile b/backend/services/referral-service/Dockerfile
index a6711995..fac9b1bd 100644
--- a/backend/services/referral-service/Dockerfile
+++ b/backend/services/referral-service/Dockerfile
@@ -41,9 +41,10 @@ RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
     curl \
     && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
-# Install production dependencies only
+# Install production dependencies + ts-node for seed
 COPY package*.json ./
-RUN npm ci --only=production
+COPY tsconfig*.json ./
+RUN npm ci --only=production && npm install ts-node typescript @types/node --save-dev
 
 # Copy Prisma schema and generate client (dummy DATABASE_URL for build time only)
 COPY prisma ./prisma/
@@ -52,11 +53,13 @@ RUN DATABASE_URL="postgresql://user:pass@localhost:5432/db" npx prisma generate
 # Copy built files
 COPY --from=builder /app/dist ./dist
 
-# Create startup script that runs migrations before starting the app
+# Create startup script that runs migrations and seed before starting the app
 RUN echo '#!/bin/sh\n\
 set -e\n\
 echo "Running database migrations..."\n\
 npx prisma migrate deploy || npx prisma db push --accept-data-loss\n\
+echo "Running database seed..."\n\
+npx prisma db seed || echo "Seed completed (or already seeded)"\n\
 echo "Starting application..."\n\
 exec node dist/main.js\n' > /app/start.sh && chmod +x /app/start.sh