Taptera

Taptera operated as a developer of a mobile-first sales enablement platform targeting enterprise clients.

The company was founded in July 2011 by Chris O'Connor and Dan McCall. The founding team's journey originated at the biotechnology corporation Genentech, where O'Connor, as Associate Director of Cloud and Mobile Solutions, and McCall, as Chief Product Officer, spearheaded the internal development of over 30 and 100 mobile applications, respectively, for the company's workforce. This experience in creating user-centric enterprise apps informed their decision to launch Taptera, aiming to build off-the-shelf mobile applications that employees would find powerful and easy to use. The initial leadership team also included Chief Design Officer John Ellenich and Chief Technology Officer Mike Janson, who brought experience from Mobiata and Salesforce.com, respectively.

Taptera's core business was providing a platform for sales and marketing teams, with a specific focus on Apple's iOS devices like the iPad and iPhone. Its main product, Showcase, functioned as a mobile content delivery system that allowed field sales representatives to access, organize, and present sales collateral. The platform enabled reps to collaborate, stay current with marketing materials, and share them directly with prospects. A key component of the business model was its analytics and reporting features, which gave management insight into which content was effective in the sales process. The company also developed tools for workflow automation and data entry forms. Taptera's first announced application was 'Colleagues,' a mobile employee directory designed for enterprise use.

The company successfully raised capital to fuel its development and growth. An initial Series A funding round in August 2011 secured $2 million, led by investor Terence Garnett and with participation from Salesforce.com and M.R. Rangaswami. Over its lifetime, Taptera raised a total of $4.5 million through investors including Hercules Capital, Salesforce Ventures, and Sand Hill Group. In October 2016, Showpad, a competitor in the sales enablement market, acquired Taptera's core business assets, including its customer roster. The move was part of a consolidation trend in the sector and followed a significant funding round for Showpad. Taptera was subsequently classified as an acqui-hired company.

Keywords: Taptera, sales enablement, mobile content delivery, Showcase platform, Chris O'Connor, enterprise iOS apps, sales productivity, mobile sales management, content activation, Showpad acquisition, Genentech, mobile CRM, sales collateral management, sales analytics, enterprise mobile solutions, Kevin Dew, Terence Garnett, Salesforce ventures, field sales tools, mobile presentation