Where to Find B2B Leads in Belgium: Data Sources Compared (2026)

Where do you find the companies and decision-makers to prospect in Belgium? In five places:

• the official registry, the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises (KBO in Dutch, BCE in French), free;
• Belgian company-data services, such as Companyweb, Trends Business Information, Openthebox, Altares, Inoopa and Databizz;
• international contact databases, such as Apollo and Kaspr;
• LinkedIn, for who holds which job today;
• your own closed deals, which tell you which companies are worth the effort.

The facts about each tool below come from its own website, checked on 30 September 2026.

Three kinds of data: companies, people, signals

Most comparison pages mix everything into one ranking. Split the question in three first.

Company data answers: does this company exist, what does it do, where, how big, is it healthy? The registry and the Belgian data services live here.

People data answers: who decides, and how do I reach them? Name, title, email, phone. International contact databases and LinkedIn live here.

Signals answer: why now? A new company, a new director, a job change, a move, a news item. Some data services and LinkedIn send alerts. A signal turns a cold message into a timely one. The guide to B2B intent signals goes deeper.

Here's the trap. A tool strong on companies is often weak on people. And the reverse. So you rarely pick one source. You chain two or three.

The official registry: the CBE public search

The Crossroads Bank for Enterprises is the Belgian register of companies. Its public search is open to anyone. You can search it five ways:

• by enterprise or establishment number;
• by name;
• by activity, with the NACE-BEL codes;
• by authorisation;
• by address.

It covers every registered entity, active or stopped, and its establishment units. The official versions are in Dutch, French and German. The English one is an unofficial translation.

For a full list, the same registry publishes CBE Open Data: files of all active entities, free to download after you register.

What it's good for: checking that a company exists and finding its enterprise number. It also pulls every company with a given activity code in a given area. It's the base layer. Most paid services start from it.

It lists directors by name, and sometimes a company phone, email or website. In a small company, the director listed there is often the person who decides. What it doesn't give you: who runs sales or operations, their email or their direct line. And an activity code says what a company declared, sometimes years ago. Not always what it does today.

Belgian company-data services

These services start from the registry and add what it lacks: financial accounts, directors, ownership, alerts, and for some, contacts. They differ in what they were built for. Some were built for credit and risk. Others for prospecting.

Companyweb

Financial and legal data on Belgian, Dutch and Luxembourg companies: directors, shareholders, credit limits and payment behaviour. You can set alerts when a company changes, and build lists of companies and business leaders from your own criteria. It connects to more than 70 business tools, CRMs included. Model: paid access, with a free trial.

Trends Business Information

Financial health, company history, directors and corporate changes for Belgian companies. A "Marketing Solutions" line covers prospecting and audience targeting. And a media radar sends signals from the news. Data can flow into your CRM through an API or existing plugins. The site is in English, Dutch and French. Model: subscriptions (Trends Top and Trends Pro) plus a webshop.

Openthebox

Belgian companies "and the people behind them": financials, management, VAT numbers, ownership links and news. It pulls from the National Bank, the registry, the Belgian Official Gazette and De Tijd. Its site speaks to banks, private equity and M&A teams. Model: trial, then subscription. Strong for mapping who owns and runs a company. Its homepage talks about deal sourcing and screening rather than outreach lists.

Altares

The exclusive Dun & Bradstreet partner for the Benelux and France. Company data worldwide, with the D-U-N-S number as a common identifier. Company reports, ownership structures, and a sales and marketing line with contact and prospect data. Model: portal subscription or API, with connectors for Salesforce, Dynamics and SAP. Useful when you sell across borders and need the same identifier everywhere.

Inoopa

Belgium and the Netherlands only. Inoopa says it reads what companies actually do on their websites, instead of trusting their NACE code, and adds decision-maker contacts, phones and emails. It also offers enrichment and CRM integration. Model: a platform, with a demo on request and a separate pricing page. Worth a look if activity codes keep sending you the wrong companies.

Databizz

A search on Belgian companies by sector, size, location, type and creation date. Plus a daily email alert on newly created companies that match your filters. That alert is a signal: a new company needs an accountant, insurance, software, premises. Model: a short subscription with no commitment, and a free account to start.

International contact databases

These tools are built on people, not on registries. You search by role, title and company. You get names, emails and phone numbers. They are strong on the "who" and "how to reach". Weaker on a company-by-company view of Belgium.

Apollo

A global database of contacts and companies, with emails and phone numbers. Filters by role, title and company, plus buying signals and job-change alerts. Model: credits, with a free plan to start. The site doesn't break down its Belgian coverage. Test it on your own accounts before you commit (the test is below).

Kaspr

A Chrome extension that works on LinkedIn profiles. One click reveals a phone number and an email address. It puts the accent on European B2B data. Model: credits, free to start. It fits a list you already have: you find the person on LinkedIn, Kaspr gives you the way to reach them.

LinkedIn and Sales Navigator

LinkedIn is where you check who holds which job today. Titles on LinkedIn usually move before any database catches up.

Sales Navigator is its paid search. More than 50 filters: function, seniority, tenure, company. Saved searches, lead lists and alerts when a lead changes job. InMail credits to write to people outside your network. On the top tier, sync with your CRM. Model: subscription in three tiers, with a free trial.

What it doesn't give you: an email address. Its page promises people, filters and InMail. For the email, you need a contact database or an enrichment tool on top. And a LinkedIn search is only as good as your filters. "Director, Belgium, 11 to 50 employees" returns thousands of people who will never buy from you.

Rented and bought lists, and why they fail

Two models sit next to the tools above.

List rental. bpost rents address files for direct marketing, households and companies. Company selections go by sector, number of employees and job function. The file holds names and postal addresses. It's built for letters, not email.

List purchase. Several websites sell a file of Belgian companies with emails and phone numbers. You pick a region and a sector, get a quote online, and download.

It looks like the fastest route. It rarely works for prospecting. Here's why ↓

1. Built from a filter, not from your clients. "Construction, Liège, 10 to 50 employees" is a guess about who buys from you. Your best clients share more than a sector and a size.
2. Sold to anyone who asks. A file off the shelf goes to every buyer who picks the same filter. Your prospect may already receive the same kind of email from other senders.
3. Old on the day you get it. People change jobs, companies move, inboxes close.
4. The wrong person. You rarely know whether the address belongs to the person who decides, or to a general inbox nobody reads.
5. No language, no timing. A file tells you neither which language the buyer reads nor why they would care this month.

The rules also differ by channel. Check them before you send.

Build the list from the deals you already won

This is how we build lists at Kaizen. It starts where no data provider can look: your CRM.

Your closed deals hold the only data no provider sells: who actually pays you. Pull the wins and the losses both. The method for steps 1 and 2 is in how to define your ideal customer profile from closed deals.

The common point is often a situation more than a sector: a site to run, a regulation to meet, a team that just grew. From there, the registry and the company-data services earn their place. You're looking for companies that match a pattern you've seen close.

The result is a list of the companies most profitable for you, with every decision-maker and their contact details verified. It stays with you. When the sequences go out, interested prospects reply to you directly. Your team takes the calls. How the list feeds the rest of the system is in the B2B outbound sales strategy.

Every source side by side

How to choose your source

Choose by the question you're asking.

• "Does this company exist, and what does it do?" The registry. Free, official, complete for companies.
• "Is it healthy, who runs it, who owns it?" A Belgian data service built on financials: Companyweb, Trends Business Information, Openthebox or Altares.
• "Who decides, and how do I reach them?" LinkedIn for the name and the role today. A contact database for the email and the phone.
• "Why would they care now?" Signals: new companies, changes of director, job changes, news.
• "Which of them look like my best clients?" Your CRM. First, before any of the others.

Before you pay for a source, run one test. Take 50 companies you know well: current clients, lost deals, prospects you've met. Look them up. Count how many it finds, how many decision-makers it gives you, and how many of those still hold the job. The count tells you more than any demo. For outbound, the usual combination:

• the registry or a Belgian service for companies;
• one people source;
• your CRM on top.

The question no source answers: which language

No source on this list tells you which language a decision-maker reads. The address gives you the default language. The person's own LinkedIn profile decides. How to tag each person and split your campaigns by language is in B2B prospecting in Belgium: French, Dutch or English?.

FAQ