Showpad

Overview

Founded by PJ Bouten, Louis Jonckheere, and Peter Minne in Ghent, Showpad became one of the early breakout SaaS companies in the Belgian ecosystem. The platform enables sales and marketing teams to align on content, equip reps with the right materials, and track engagement throughout the sales process.

Showpad raised substantial venture funding and expanded its US presence significantly, with dual headquarters in Ghent and Chicago. The company competes in the sales enablement category alongside Seismic and Highspot. Total lifetime funding reached $188M.

In August 2025, Vector Capital, a US private equity firm, acquired Showpad and merged it with Bigtincan, an Australian sales enablement platform. At the time of acquisition, Showpad reported EUR 160M in ARR and approximately 600 employees, with 120 based in Ghent.

Showpad is a key reference company in the Ghent ecosystem narrative and a proof point for B2B SaaS scaling out of Belgium.

Media & appearances

• Ben's MentorsYouTube2026-03-20
  Van Bootstrappen Tot €300M Exit: Succes is nooit overnight!Cited as illustration of the 2013 era: their €1M funding round was almost national news at the time.
• Ben's MentorsYouTube2026-02-04
  Louis Jonckheere: Zo Bouw Je Een Bedrijf Dat Voorbij €100 Miljoen Groeit!Sales enablement company Jonckheere co-founded at 25, started as an iPad app, scaled to 100M+ revenue but made the mistake of hiring sales ahead of market demand; later sold at lower traditional SaaS multiples.
• The HarbourYouTube2025-11-20
  BORIS BOGAERT (PITCHDRIVE) - from entrepreneur to vc investorCited as a Netlog mafia success story that did a lot for Ghent's ecosystem, founded by Pieterjan Bouten and Louis Jonckheere who worked in Netlog's commercial team.
• Ben's MentorsYouTube2025-11-19
  Serie-Ondernemer Over Start-ups, Miljoenen-exits En Ondernemen Met Average RobGhent scale-up that served as role model and talent pool: Henchman poached experienced sales people from Showpad and Silverfin.
• Ben's MentorsYouTube2025-10-29
  Waarom de Meeste Start-Ups Falen en hoe jij Kan Groeien!Its founders are cited as Belgian tech entrepreneurs now appearing in news and podcasts, building personal brands.
• VirtualYouTube2025-09-24
  Virtual S02#3 - De AI-bubbel zal barsten, maar creëert meteen ook de nieuwe Microsoft.Louis Jonckheere is co-founder of this Ghent scale-up. Additional recording: Virtual.
• SuperNovaYouTube2025-07-30
  SuperHeroes at SuperNova Ep. 8 | Lorenz Bogaert - StarAppsFounded by ex-Netlog employees who hired heavily from Bogaert's companies; talent now flows back from Showpad trained in B2B SaaS.
• WintercircusYouTube2025-06-30
  'The ODOO Story' Interview with Fabian Pinckaers and Louis JonckheereLouis Jonckheere's company, referenced when comparing scaling culture from 1 to 500 people and contrasting decisions with Odoo's approach.
• Johan de WitYouTube2025-06-27
  De SaaS founder mindset: resilience, eenvoud en loslaten - Lorenz Bogaert, StarAppsFounded by two former Netlog employees, cited as an example of how Netlog seeded the Ghent SaaS ecosystem.

Stated facts & numbers

• In 2013 Showpad's €1 million funding round was almost national news in Belgium.Ben's Mentors 2026-03-200:11:09
• Roeland Delrue worked nearly eight years at Showpad before co-founding Aikido; Jonckheere hired him in San Francisco ~11 years ago.Ben's Mentors 2026-02-040:04:05
• Showpad grew from 50 to 200 employees in about a year and a half.Ben's Mentors 2026-02-040:47:21
• Showpad was valued around €160-170 million at exit, at much lower multiples than AI-era startups like Aikido.Ben's Mentors 2026-02-041:23:29
• Around 24 startups have been founded by Showpad founders or early senior employees.Ben's Mentors 2026-02-041:01:03
• Cameron Deatsch, later CRO of Atlassian (grew it from 100 million to 5 billion), was Showpad's first American buyer at Jive; he speaks at Wintercircus on February 10.Ben's Mentors 2026-02-040:58:00
• Jonckheere founded Showpad and In The Pocket at around age 25 and is now 41.Ben's Mentors 2026-02-040:44:48
• Showpad does roughly $100 million in annual revenue.Ben's Mentors 2024-09-110:33:23