Showpad on the move
The Ghent Showpad raises more than 6 million euros in a new round of investment. British Dawn Capital and the Belgian capital investment fund Hummingbird join forces. In March 2013 Showpad raised more than 1.5 million euros at Hummingbird. Things are moving fast for the Ghent business which only began three years ago.
Showpad turns your tablet, PC or smart phone into a powerful sales-and marketing tool. The company developed an application which gives dynamic access to marketing-, data-and demonstration material. In this way sales people can make an attractive and relevant presentation for their customers which is totally up to date. “Showpad is a kind of Spotify for sales presentations; the system finds the right content at the right moment”, says co-founder and CEO Pieterjan Bouten. "In the on-line platform the content of a company is brought together (like brochures and customer data), and combined in a beautiful and user friendly app. The tool also gives insights into customer reaction to the information shared." Thanks to Showpad, companies can also discover how their sales content is used in order to increase the efficiency of their sales activities.
According to the company they have a recurring turnover of 3.6 million euros and expect to book 8 million euros next year. The new starter, from just three years ago, has 50 employees and over 500 customers. Recently Intel was taken on board as a customer. More than 80 percent of Showpad's turnover comes from abroad, including companies such as Audi, BASF, Siemens, Xerox and Atlas Copco in their portfolio.
Showpad will be using the latest techniques to rapidly expand their commercial organisation and further develop their software platform. The company plans to double or even triple their annual turnover in the coming years. Showpad has offices in Ghent and San Francisco and plans to open divisions in London and Singapore soon. The company will be investing heavily in marketing and personnel. Showpad is looking for 25 new employees, of which 15 in Ghent and 8 in San Francisco. The main requirement is for software developers, but also sales- and marketing people.