Ray Li

Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer Apollo.io

Last Reviewed: September 24, 2026

Executive Summary

Ray Li is co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Apollo.io, the sales intelligence and go-to-market platform that started in 2015 as ZenProspect. He has been on the technical side of the company since it was, in Apollo’s own words, three people in a crowded living room eating chicken fried rice every day. By February 2026 it reported nearly 100,000 paying customers and close to $200 million in annual recurring revenue. He is responsible for Apollo’s technical vision and runs the infrastructure and security work that keeps its technical stack in step with that growth. He trained as a computer scientist at Harvard and worked as a software engineer on Square’s payment infrastructure before Apollo. Apollo’s leadership has changed around him: co-founder Tim Zheng handed the chief executive role to Matt Curl in February 2026, and Li has stayed on as CTO.

Career Highlights

• Co-founder of Apollo.io, founded in 2015 as ZenProspect and a member of Y Combinator’s Winter 2016 batch.
• Chief Technology Officer, responsible for the company’s technical vision and for scaling its infrastructure and security.
• Named as an executive officer and director of ZenLeads Inc., Apollo’s operating company, in a January 2022 SEC Form D reporting about $110 million sold.
• Part of the founding team that took Apollo through a Series A in 2018 and Series B, C and D rounds between November 2021 and August 2023. Apollo reported $150 million in ARR in May 2025.
• Before Apollo, a software engineer on Square’s payment infrastructure team.
• Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, with a secondary in Economics, from Harvard, 2014.

Professional Journey

Li graduated from Harvard in 2014 with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and a secondary field in Economics. He then worked at Square as a software engineer on its payment infrastructure team.

In 2015 he and Tim Zheng started the company that became Apollo. It began as ZenProspect and went through Y Combinator in the Winter 2016 batch. It released its first product in 2016, and in June 2018 it renamed itself Apollo and raised a $7 million Series A led by Nexus Venture Partners. Apollo describes the start as three people in a crowded living room eating chicken fried rice every day. Zheng led the company as chief executive.

Apollo released a free plan in 2018 and a freemium experience in 2019. Apollo’s timeline records 5,000 paying users in January 2021 and 10,000 by October that year. It then raised a Series B in November 2021, a Series C in March 2022 and a Series D in August 2023, and says it passed $150 million in ARR in May 2025. The operating company, ZenLeads Inc., filed a Form D in January 2022 reporting nearly $110 million raised, naming Li as an executive officer and director. Sequoia has backed the company since 2021.

As CTO, Li’s stated remit is the infrastructure and security work needed to scale Apollo’s technical stack as fast as the business grows. Apollo also credits him with the data technology that gives it a competitive edge and with enabling collaboration across departments. In February 2026 Apollo appointed Matt Curl as chief executive, and Zheng continued as chairman. Li is listed as Chief Technology Officer on the company’s current leadership page. Apollo’s biography gives Miami as his base.

Education

Harvard University

Bachelor of Science, Computer Science, with a Secondary in Economics, 2014