Robert Wahbe is the co-founder and CEO of Highspot, a sales enablement platform, helping organizations close the loop across marketing, sales, and their customers.
Early life and education
Robert Wahbe was born on December 12, 1963, and studied at the University of California, Berkeley from 1984 to 1996. Currently, he lives in Seattle, Washington.
Early career
In December 1993, Robert Wahbe co-founded Colusa Software, a privately held software company. Colusa Software, producer of OmniWare, a product which enables developers to develop memory-protected Internet products. Colusa produced a cross-language virtual machine that gave secure execution within systems such as databases, and operating systems.
In March 1996, Microsoft Corporation acquired Colusa Software Inc. in an undisclosed amount. The execution of a merger arrangement with Aspect Software Engineering Inc. to equipped a full range of technologies and tools that support and strengthen the company’s vision of the Internet. Colusa’s OmniWare product allows developers to create memory-protected, high-performance Internet components in popular programming languages, including C and C++.
After the acquisition, Wahbe remained at the company and became Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President of Product Management in the Server and Tools Division. Wahbe supervised extensive business, and product management, including product branding, packaging, pricing, planning, and advertising, as well as working with the partner ecosystem, and sales integration.
Wahbe led Connected System Division and was responsible for platform and tools for distributed computing in Windows Server. Wahbe served the company until February 2012 to launch his second company, Highspot, Inc.
Highspot
Robert Wahbe co-founded Highspot, along with David Wortendyke, Scot Gellock, and Oliver Sharp in 2012. Highspot is the industry’s most progressive sales enablement platform, helping organizations close the loop across marketing, sales, and the customer.
In April 2015, at Box’s developer conference, Box Dev, Highspot announced a partnership with Box during a keynote presentation. Highspot’s alliance with Box leverages the content optimization skills and powerful analytics of Highspot with Box’s sturdy enterprise platform to provide sales and marketing teams a seamless content management solution to boost sales effectiveness.
In May 2015, Highspot launched a new feature called Content Genomics that makes it feasible for marketers to trace different content through an organization, even when it has been altered. In January 2016, Highspot announced a substantial development to its integration capabilities with both CRM solutions and cloud and on-premises content repository.
In February 2016, Highspot revealed integration with Microsoft Office Online that allows a sales rep to edit documents and presentations straightforwardly from within the Highspot application. This integration enables sellers to modify the content they distribute with prospects while reducing opportunities for error, saving time, and giving companies sophisticated analytics on how sales content evolves as it reaches customers.
In October 2016, Brainshark and Highspot started into a strategic partnership to empower more companies to improve sales effectiveness. By joining their best solutions, Highspot and Brainshark achieve unparalleled flexibility for customers, providing the industry’s only streamlined capabilities for onboarding, analytics, coaching, content management, training, and customer engagement.
In May 2018, EY announced Wahbe as Entrepreneur of the Year in the Pacific Northwest. In June 2018, as part of the annual SIIA CODiE Awards, Highspot was named the Best Content Management Platform and Best Sales Enablement Platform.
Funding rounds
In June 2013, Highspot raised $2.3 million in funding from investor Acequia Capital. In November 2014, Highspot raised $9.6 million in a Series A funding, from its lead investor Madrona Venture Group, so its platform can further enter more customers’ minds.
In June 2017, Highspot raised $15 million in a Series B funding, from its lead investor Shasta Ventures and other investors include Madrona Venture Group and Salesforce Ventures. In September 2018, Highspot raised $35 million in a Series C funding, led by new investor OpenView Venture Partners, and existing investors include Shasta Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, and Madrona Ventre Group.
In June 2019, Highspot raised $60 million in a Series D funding, led by new investor ICONIQ Capital with existing investors include Shasta Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, OpenView Venture Partners, and Madrona Venture Group. Other investor includes Sapphire Ventures has participated in this round.
Highspot has raised a total of $121.9 million in funding rounds. Highspot is funded by seven investors. Highspot has $30 million in an estimated revenue annually and competes with Outreach, SalesLoft, and Accent Technologies.