We Won 2025’s Emerging Tech of the Year!

Last week, something pretty incredible happened—Sunstone won Emerging Technology of the Year at the 2025 Analytics & AI Awards! 

Hosted by the Analytics Institute, the awards spotlight standout innovation across Ireland’s data and tech space. Our award-winning entry was MAPS (Market Activity Profiling System), our AI-driven tool that rethinks how businesses are classified using real-time behavioural signals. With strong competition from major players like Bank of Ireland and Mercer, this recognition for MAPS really means a lot. For a small team like ours, it’s a huge milestone—and one we’re incredibly proud of.

Wait, So What Is MAPS?

Our winning tech is called MAPS, short for Market Activity Profiling System. It’s our secret weapon—a fresh, dynamic way to understand the business world as it actually moves.

Most B2B platforms—think Lusha, Apollo, or any of the usual suspects—still rely on rigid sector codes and outdated classifications. But companies evolve fast, and those static labels just can’t keep up. A business might be listed under “Tech” or “Retail,” but that doesn’t tell you if they’re launching new products, entering new markets, or even still doing what they were six months ago.

MAPS flips that logic. Instead of labelling companies based on what they used to be, it looks at what they’re doing right now. We track real-time behavioural signals—product rollouts, website activity, press coverage, financial updates—all the stuff that actually reflects momentum. Then we use that data to group companies based on how they behave, not just how they’re labelled.

So instead of saying, “This company is in FinTech because LinkedIn says so,” MAPS looks at their real actions—what they’re building, where they’re growing, what signals they’re sending—and makes smarter, more adaptive classifications.

The result?

• You get a true picture of the market as it’s evolving, not as it looked six months ago

• You can spot companies that are a real fit, based on their activity and direction—not just surface-level labels

• You move faster and smarter, because you’re not waiting on stale reports or hoping someone updates a spreadsheet

It’s kind of like turning on a flood light in a poorly lit room full of people. Suddenly, you can see everything. The companies worth watching stand out. And your strategy gets a whole lot clearer.

Why We Built MAPS

Honestly, this all started with a lot of frustration—mostly with NACE codes.

We were working with a large, pretty well-known business database that relied heavily on NACE codes to classify companies. And while it was supposed to be comprehensive, the reality was… messy. The codes were broad, inconsistent, and often just plain wrong. One company might be classified as “Retail” when they were actually a SaaS provider. Another might be labeled “Manufacturing” even though they hadn’t produced anything in years.

On paper, it looked like solid data. But once you tried to use it for real targeting or segmentation, it fell apart. You can’t build a strong go-to-market strategy on categories that don’t reflect what companies are actually doing.

So we built something better.

MAPS was born from that problem—a smarter way to classify businesses based on real-time behavioural signals rather than outdated codes. It helps companies actually understand their market, spot new opportunities faster, and stop wasting time chasing leads that were never a fit.

Now it powers our SaleSight platform and is already making a huge difference for our clients.

And as of last week? The wider analytics world is starting to take notice too.

What Winning This Means

For us?

This award felt like a big moment of validation—like, “Wait… we’re actually building something amazing here.” We’ve always believed in what we’re creating, but having that belief backed by external recognition hits differently. Especially when you’re a startup, trying to do something new with a small team and a big vision.

For our clients?

It means they’re not just working with a company claiming to use cutting-edge tech—they’re working with one that’s been recognised for it. That trust, and that credibility, really matters.

For the industry?

We hope it’s a reminder that meaningful innovation doesn’t always start in boardrooms or billion-dollar labs. Sometimes it begins with a small team, a big idea—and the stubborn refusal to settle for “good enough.”

From Roger, Our Founder and CEO

“I couldn’t be prouder of this team. We’ve been building something different from day one—not trying to copy the big players, but to rethink how market intelligence should work. There’s a line in Moneyball that I always come back to: ‘If we try to play like the Yankees in here, we’re gonna lose to the Yankees out there.’ That’s exactly it. We didn’t play like the big guys—we did it our way. And now we’re being recognised for it.”

(There were cheers. Possibly a toast. Definitely some shouting. All well deserved.)

What’s Next For Us?

This award doesn’t just celebrate what we’ve built—it pushes us to keep going, keep improving, and keep challenging the norm. We’re not slowing down.

MAPS and SaleSight are evolving fast—smarter models, sharper signals, and even more ways to help teams understand their real market. We’re already helping clients pinpoint their true TAM, uncover high-fit leads they’d never have found through traditional data, and rethink how they approach sales and strategy from the ground up.

Curious to see how it works? Visit sunstone.ie or get in touch with us—we’d love to show you around!

Epilogue

Huge thanks to the Analytics Institute, our early believers, our clients, and every single person who’s backed us, challenged us, or just told us “you guys have something special here” exactly when we needed it.

We’ve made it through whiteboard meltdowns, coffee-fueled breakthroughs, and one winter with no heat. But through it all, we kept showing up, kept building, and kept believing in what we were making.

We’re beyond proud. The trophy is already sitting in the office window. We’re just hoping someone walks by and asks about it.

And yes, we’re absolutely already planning what’s next.