AppDirect, a B2B commerce marketplace, announced Tuesday it has acquired PartnerStack, a partner relationship management platform used primarily by vendors to manage channel partnerships.
“The way businesses find, evaluate, and buy technology has fundamentally changed, and we're building the platform that powers what comes next,” Andy Ellerhorst, SVP of corporate development and chief of staff at AppDirect, told Channel Dive.
Ellerhorst added that what makes PartnerStack truly unique is its built-in network of over 138,000 active B2B affiliates, influencers, co-sell partners and channel partners who are already transacting.
AppDirect hopes to tap into that network to expand partner-driven sales and simplify the sprawling channel ecosystem for vendors and partners. By 2030, partners are expected to facilitate nearly 60% of all marketplace transactions, highlighting their continued stronghold on tech sales and management even as platforms change.
With the acquisition of PartnerStack, Ellerhorst said that AppDirect now offers a unified platform that spans the full lifecycle, from generating demand through partners to marketplace distribution and back-end commerce operations.
AppDirect offers a range of B2B technology in its marketplace, including SaaS applications, cloud infrastructure services, AI solutions, cybersecurity, connectivity, network and mobility services, and hardware. Ellerhorst said the company’s goal is to build a platform where businesses can consolidate and manage their entire tech stack, rather than juggling dozens of separate vendor relationships.
For channel firms, that means AppDirect aims to build a streamlined platform where partners can manage referrals, sell products and handle billing in one place.
“The bigger picture for the channel is this: we're eliminating the fragmentation that has historically held partners back,” Ellerhorst said.
AppDirect has built its business through acquisitions and service consolidation. Over the next year or so, the marketplace platform anticipates crossing the $1 billion threshold in gross annual recurring revenue, fueled by its recent acquisitions.
In 2025, the company acquired Tackle.io, a platform that helps independent software vendors sell and transact on Google Cloud, AWS and Microsoft marketplaces.
The B2B commerce company also acquired IT asset management platform Firstbase last year. While AppDirect deals primarily with software and cloud services, the acquisition of Firstbase, which manages employee hardware such as laptops and other devices, allowed it to offer hardware services.
Around the same time, AppDirect acquired tech services distributor NXTSYS Consulting to expand its sales through managed service providers, tapping into another network of partners that use NXTSYS to sell carrier, cloud and software solutions.
This deal comes as vendors in the channel seek to consolidate their partner management, sales, and billing into unified systems. And as platforms like AppDirect continue to gain popularity, channel firms may gain efficiency but face increasing reliance on a shrinking number of marketplaces to drive revenue.
