iPad Sales Presentation Software Startup Showpad Raises $2M
Showpad, a Belgium-based startup that makes cloud-based sales presentation software for the iPad, is gearing up for a stateside push.
The Showpad platform blends the management of sales content and marketing collateral with an iPad app that can present and share presentations with customers. Showpad helps sales managers customize and distribute presentations to their entire sales force so that they're all on the same page — or slide as it were.
Showpad's CEO Pieterjan Bouten said because his company is a staunch supporter of the “consumerization of enterprise software” trend in IT, it emphasizes mobile-friendly work styles and ease of use. “Showpad helps sales people and content managers to efficiently manage documents and other data on many mobile devices with an easy-to-use Web interface. There are no excess options and functionalities in Showpad,” he wrote in a blog post.
“We focus on simply having the best user experience for sales people and administrators. Showpad is easy to set-up, deploy and easy to manage. There are no complicated setup procedures or fees,” he added.
Enterprise social specialist Jive Software got the message.
Last October, the companies announced that Showpad's tech would power Jive Present, Jive's sales and training app. Jive CEO Tony Zingale said at the time of the announcement, “It's become a business imperative that these teams have an easy, intuitive and controlled way to receive information and leverage social tools to interact with the right content and people.”
Now Showpad is looking to make further inroads into the American software market, starting with New York City. The company announced that it had raised $2 million in funding from Hummingbird Ventures, a European venture capital firm.
Showpad's first order of duty: open a New York office in May. The company will also use the funds to get its technology in front of more potential customers by boosting its sales and marketing budget. Today, Showpad is being used by several big brands, including BASF, Audi, GE and Bayer.
Pedro Hernandez is a contributing editor at InternetNews.com, the news service of the Quinstreet Enterprise Network, the network for technology professionals. Follow him on Twitter @ecoINSITE.
Pedro Hernandez contributes to Enterprise Apps Today, and 11Press, the technology network. He was previously the managing editor of Internet.com, an IT-related website network. He has expertise in Smart Tech, CRM, and Mobile Tech, Helping Banks and Fintechs, Telcos and Automotive OEMs, and Healthcare and Identity Service Providers to Protect Mobile Apps.
