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Sales tech startup Apollo.io promoted COO Matt Curl to CEO, with founder Tim Zheng moving to chairman, the pair tell Axios Pro exclusively.

The big picture: The 11-year-old startup is nearing $200 million in ARR, with the company considering acquisitions, Curl says.

Zoom in: The company is looking for targets in the AI stack, including data, orchestration, and execution technologies.

"It's a really great time right now," Curl says about dealmaking. "Our cash position is extremely strong. We have optionality."

State of play: Curl joined Apollo.io as an advisor in 2020 and was hired as COO nearly two years ago.

Zheng, who describes himself as "more of a product guy," says the plan was for Curl to succeed him as CEO when he was hired as COO.

Zheng says he will take "a little bit of a breather" after leading the company for 11 years, but will stay on to support Curl.

The change was not initiated by investors, both say.

How it works: Apollo.io has built an end-to-end sales intelligence and engagement platform, which can help businesses find and contact customers and close deals.

The company has extensive contact info and emailing, calling, and outreach automation.

By the numbers: The San Francisco-based company reached unicorn status back in 2023 when it raised a $100 million Series D led by Bain Capital Ventures at a $1.6 billion post-money valuation.

Sequoia Capital, Tribe Capital and Nexus Venture Partners also joined the Series D.

Apollo.io has more than 90,000 paying customers and 850 employees, Curl says.

Flashback: Apollo.io announced in May that it had surpassed $150 million in ARR.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with corrected information from the company about their outreach automation. 

Exclusive: Sales engagement startup Apollo.io makes CEO change

The move comes as the startup is nearing $200 million ARR and considers acquisitions.

Illustration of a wooden desk nameplate with a gold plaque displaying the word "CEØ." 

Sales tech startup <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Apollo.io" data-vars-click-url="http://apollo.io/" data-vars-content-id="316f7f8b-6736-49fa-9071-c9deba8ad674" data-vars-headline="Exclusive: Sales engagement startup Apollo.io makes CEO change" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="http://apollo.io/" target="_blank">Apollo.io</a> promoted COO Matt Curl to CEO, with founder Tim Zheng moving to chairman, the pair tell Axios Pro exclusively.The big picture: The 11-year-old startup is nearing $200 million in ARR, with the company considering acquisitions, Curl says.

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Exclusive: Sales engagement startup Apollo.io makes CEO change

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