Apollo.io is a B2B go-to-market (GTM) platform that combines sales intelligence (contact/company data and enrichment) with engagement workflows used to generate and progress pipeline. It positions itself as a single platform that covers outbound prospecting, inbound lead handling, data enrichment, and deal execution activities. (Apollo)
From a marketing and revenue operations perspective, Apollo is commonly used to build target lists, enrich CRM/marketing automation records, route and qualify inbound leads, and coordinate outbound sequences and follow-up. Apollo states it was founded in 2015 and is used by a large customer base, and it highlights a community-based approach to data sourcing and maintenance (including GDPR-related messaging on its site). (Apollo)
Key Features
- Prospecting and data access
- Access to contact and company data used for targeting and segmentation. (Apollo)
- Outbound execution
- List building and campaign setup supported by “AI Assistant” prompts; deliverability tools; parallel dialer; Chrome extension; analytics/dashboards; workflow automation; call insights and follow-ups. (Apollo)
- Inbound lead conversion
- Website visitor tracking (identifying companies); form enrichment; inbound routing; meeting scheduling; workflow creation via natural-language prompts; inbound performance analytics. (Apollo)
- Data enrichment
- Enrichment workflows (including “waterfall enrichment”); intent signals and lead scoring options; CRM updates (scheduled/on-demand/real time); API and integrations for syncing data across systems. (Apollo)
- Deal execution and conversation workflows
- Meeting scheduling links; pre-meeting insights; call recording; automatic task creation; AI-assisted follow-up emails; automatic CRM updates; pipeline boards/alerts; conversation insights and performance dashboards. (Apollo)
Leadership Team
Apollo highlights the following leaders in its public materials:
- Tim Zheng — CEO & Founder
- Ray Li — CTO & Founder
- Marcio Arnecke — Chief Marketing Officer (announced Apr 29, 2025)
- Adam Carr — Chief Revenue Officer (announced Apr 29, 2025)
- Bela Stepanova — Chief Product Officer
- Matt Curl — Chief Operating Officer
History
Apollo publishes a milestone timeline that includes: (Apollo)
| Date | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 2015 | Company founded |
| 2016 | First product release |
| 2018 | Series A funding |
| 2018 | Free plan released |
| 2019 | Freemium experience released |
| 2020 | Unlimited data plans released |
| Jan 2021 | First 5k paid users |
| Oct 2021 | First 10k paid users |
| Nov 2021 | Series B funding |
| Mar 2022 | Series C funding |
| Aug 2023 | 40k paid users |
| Aug 2023 | Series D funding |
| May 2025 | $150M ARR milestone |
Competitors
Apollo sits in an overlapping space that includes B2B data providers, sales engagement/sequencing tools, inbound routing/conversion tools, and intent/ABM platforms. (Yes, it’s one of those categories where every vendor claims they replace four other tabs you currently keep open.) (Apollo)
| Platform | Primary focus | Where it overlaps with Apollo |
|---|---|---|
| ZoomInfo | B2B data and intelligence | Prospecting data, enrichment, org/contact coverage (Apollo) |
| Lusha | B2B contact data | Prospecting data, direct dials/emails (Apollo) |
| Seamless.AI | B2B prospecting data | Contact discovery and list building (Apollo) |
| Cognism | B2B data (notably in EMEA) | Contact data and prospecting workflows (Lusha) |
| Clearbit (HubSpot) | B2B data inside/alongside HubSpot | Enrichment and company intelligence for GTM teams (HubSpot) |
| 6sense | Intent + ABM analytics | Intent signals and account prioritization (Tracxn) |
| Clay | Data aggregation + workflow building | List building, enrichment workflows, GTM ops automation (Tracxn) |
| LinkedIn Sales Navigator | Sales prospecting on LinkedIn | Prospect discovery and account research (Lead411) |
| Outreach / Salesloft | Sales engagement | Sequencing, task management, rep workflows (Apollo competes here via engagement features) (Apollo) |
| SalesIntel / Lead411 | B2B data providers | Data accuracy positioning, enrichment, intent add-ons (SalesIntel) |
Related Articles, News, & Episodes
Reference links
- Apollo homepage (platform overview) (Apollo)
- Apollo “About Us” (founding, positioning, founders) (Apollo)
- Apollo “Our Story” (milestone timeline) (Apollo)
- Outbound sales software page (Apollo)
- Inbound lead conversion page (Apollo)
- B2B data enrichment page (Apollo)
- Deal execution / sales execution page (Apollo)
- Apollo leadership announcement (CMO/CRO; mentions CPO/COO) (Apollo)
- HubSpot acquisition of Clearbit (context on Clearbit as a competitor category) (HubSpot)
Related Terms
- Sales intelligence platform
- B2B contact database
- Data enrichment
- Lead scoring
- Buyer intent signals
- Sales engagement platform
- Outbound sequencing
- Inbound lead routing
- Conversation intelligence
- Revenue operations (RevOps)