B2B Stars operates as an AI-native B2B database, offering comprehensive analytics on over three million U.S. and Western European companies. The platform provides free search access to a vast online directory, verified B2B reviews, and a corporate reputation score database. Pulse 2.0 interviewed B2B Stars CEO Raffaele Apostoliti to gain a deeper understanding of the company.
Raffaele Apostoliti’s Background
Please tell me more about your background. Apostoliti said:
“While my first working experience was in finance, after a couple of years, I fell in love with B2B marketing and technology. I saw enormous potential in the disruptive nature of digital marketing. It was 1995, and the internet was growing out of academia and government circles to become everyone’s world wide web. It was also the year I discovered the newly published “Being Digital” by Nicholas Negroponte—a seminal book that profoundly shaped my vision of how technology can transform business. That very book motivated me to embrace a career in tech, and I joined a great tech company, Hewlett-Packard (HP).”
“At their European Marketing Center, I had the opportunity to lead the implementation of the first e-commerce platform for HP PCs and negotiate innovative partnerships with the leading internet portals of the time, which were the equivalent of today’s AI stars.”
“In 2000, I created one of the first B2B digital agencies, which HP incubated and supported in its early stages. Over the last 25 years, we have remained focused on B2B marketing and the power of disruptive technologies, but as you can imagine, the journey has been extremely dynamic, more than I could have imagined. Every few years, new disruptive technologies change the landscape – think about Google in search in the early 2000s and AI in 2022.”
“As CEO of a technology company, my main focus is on defining the vision and strategy for the organization, taking into account the evolving landscape of marketing technology. This means staying ahead of trends and working closely with the CTO and product teams to guide product innovation, usability, and scalability.”
“Additionally, one of my roles is to build and lead a strong executive team across product, marketing, sales, and engineering. Finally, I oversee sales and marketing strategies with a focus on the growth and revenue of the company as well as the relationships with partners, investors, and board members.”
Favorite Memory
What has been your favorite memory working for the company so far? Apostoliti reflected:
“Closing large deals and hearing positive feedback from clients is always very fulfilling. As a technology vendor, being recognized in the Gartner Magic Quadrant and the Forrester Wave is a very proud memory. The recent award from Frost & Sullivan as Company of the Year 2025 is also very meaningful, as we beat out vendors who are ten times bigger than us.”
Core Products
What are the company’s core products and features? Apostoliti explained:
“We have been active for 25 years in the field of data, analytics, and platforms for B2B advertising and marketing. B2B Stars, which launched in Europe in 2024 and the U.S. in 2025, includes:
- Free search access to the largest online directory of U.S. and Western European companies: The B2B Stars network includes over 95% of B2B companies with 10+ employees.
- Verified B2B reviews: B2B Stars’ AI engine finds and analyzes all B2B reviews available online, filters out consumer reviews, and provides an aggregated satisfaction score paired with an AI-generated company summary of highlights and lowlights.
- A growing corporate reputation score database: B2B Stars breaks away from conventional reliance on website traffic and content to deliver dynamic data that provides a more comprehensive view of the target market to inform decision-making. B2B Stars analyzes and scores a company’s reputation based on peer reviews, credit scores, and recognitions from industry analysts and employees.”
Challenges Faced
Have you faced any challenges in your sector of work recently? Apostoliti acknowledged:
“AI has changed everything in the last two and a half years, but for our industry, it is more an opportunity than a challenge.”
“Attracting the right talent is the biggest challenge, from recruiting young staff with the right skills, training them to keep pace with constantly changing technology, and searching across the globe to find a broader talent offering.”
“We are a small but very dynamic team with strong experience in international business and building strong teams. We try to overcome these challenges by creating a positive company culture, and our employees come from many different countries and have different cultures and customs. Thanks to this, we have developed a very positive working environment. We have also developed strong collaborations with universities and higher education institutions where we regularly present our company and vision, and find young professionals eager to join our company.”
Evolution Of The Company’s Technology
How has the company’s technology evolved since its launch? Apostoliti noted:
“Initially, we were focused on developing B2B data & analytics internally. Then, we grew through acquisitions to integrate innovative adtech and martech platforms to offer a more comprehensive solution to SMBs.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones? Apostoliti cited:
“In 2021, we purchased Accountinsight, a startup born within the WPP ecosystem with a proprietary programmatic advertising platform. In 2022, we purchased the assets of Cyance, an intent data provider. In 2023, we purchased the assets of Jabmo, a multi-awarded ABM platform, and in 2024, we purchased Session Media, a performance marketing provider focused on tech sectors.”
Funding
When asking Apostoliti about the company’s funding details, he revealed:
“Today, we do more than $20 million turnover, and we plan to grow 20-30% organically and hopefully through more acquisitions. At this time, all of our acquisitions have been self-funded, but we may look for debt funding or minority equity funding during 2025 to support both the growth of our newborn company and platform, B2B Stars, and the potential acquisition of companies.”
Total Addressable Market
What total addressable market (TAM) size is the company pursuing? Apostoliti assessed:
“Both B2B digital advertising and B2B data and analytics have a TAM size of around $100 billion globally. We try to cover any segment of those markets by extending the portfolio of products, reaching clients directly, and also through partnerships with global agencies and tech platforms.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates the company from its competition? Apostoliti affirmed:
“There are very few tech vendors that are focused on B2B advertising and marketing, and most of them predominantly feature B2C solutions. Among the small number of vendors in the B2B martech and adtech space, we differentiate in terms of:
- The broadest portfolio of data, media, and technologies to cover any needs of our direct and indirect clients.
- The integration with managed services, which is often avoided by most other tech vendors, but critical to serve midmarket and SMB that lack internal competencies and bandwidth.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of the company’s future goals? Apostoliti concluded:
“Our focus is to become a global leader for agencies, clients, and platforms interested in executing effective B2B digital advertising and a worldwide leader in delivering to agencies, clients, and platforms unique B2B data and analytics to execute best-in-class B2B marketing campaigns.”
