Ghent’s Showpad acquired by Vector Capital, set to merge with Bigtincan: Know more

Vector Capital Management has agreed to acquire Showpad, a sales enablement platform that marketing and sales teams use to drive revenue growth.

California’s private equity firm Vector Capital Management has agreed to acquire Showpad, a company with headquarters in Ghent (Belgium) and Chicago, that provides AI revenue enablement technology.

Showpad was founded in 2011 by Pieterjan Bouten, Louis Jonckheere, and Peter Minne. The company provides a platform that combines training, coaching, and content solutions for sales and marketing teams.

Its mission is to align sales and marketing with buyer preferences by offering tools for training, coaching, and content delivery. The platform is designed to help teams engage buyers and support purchasing decisions.

Showpad works with customers in more than 50 countries, and its clients include Coca-Cola, Dow, DuPont, GE Healthcare, Kaiser Permanente, and Schneider Electric, among others.

Aim of the acquisition

Vector Capital Management announced that after completing its acquisition of Showpad, it will combine the company with Bigtincan Holdings, which it acquired in April 2025. The merged business will operate under the Showpad brand.

Amish Mehta, Chief Investment Officer and MD at Vector Capital, says, “The combination of Bigtincan with Showpad brings together best-in-class innovation and market leaders with thousands of customers. The combined company will lead the digital and AI-fueled buyer and seller engagement and drive a new generation of experiences that people and brands love.”

The combined entity will provide AI-based revenue enablement technology across buyer-seller engagement, supported by expanded geographic reach and joint research and development capabilities.

Bigtincan provides a platform that supports sales enablement and buyer engagement. The company develops tools that allow businesses to deliver buying experiences tailored to customer needs and business processes. Its technology is used by over 1,000 companies, including Abbott, AT&T, Clorox, Merck, Winnebago, and 100 of the Fortune 500.

Jim Hopkins, Chairman of Bigtincan, says, “Evolving preferences and rapid technology advancements are aggressively transforming buying and selling behaviours. We invested early and heavily in AI, and our combined global R&D resources will accelerate innovation so customers can rapidly reap the benefits of AI and emerging future innovations.”

Hendrik Isebaert, CEO of Showpad, mentions, “Our unwavering focus on driving success for customers fueled a record-breaking year of growth for Showpad in 2024. Together, we will deliver a breadth of flexible solutions and an incredible team to help customers engage with buyers in new and creative ways they never thought possible.”

“The merger of Showpad and Bigtincan represents a watershed moment for the sales enablement market,” says Jim Lundy, Founder and Lead Analyst at Aragon Research. “By uniting complementary strengths in content, readiness, and AI, the combined company is poised to deliver on the market’s unmet demand for AI-centric sales enablement platforms that are easier to deploy, simpler to use and more impactful for revenue teams worldwide.”

Insight Partners, an investor in Showpad, will maintain its full investment in the combined company formed by the merger of Showpad and Bigtincan. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The deal is expected to close in 2025.

“Vector Capital has a long history of building category-defining technology companies,” mentions Rob Amen, MD at Vector Capital. “Both companies bring impressive industry expertise and commitment to excellence. Together, they will continue to drive the future and set industry standards and best practices globally.”

Brief about Vector Capital Management

Vector Capital focuses on investments in middle-market technology and technology-enabled businesses. Founded in 1997, the firm manages over $4B of capital across credit and private equity strategies for a group of global limited partners. 

For nearly 28 years, Vector Capital has combined technology investments with operational transformation.