SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Salesforce
(NYSE: CRM), the global leader in CRM, today announced its second
Impact Fund from Salesforce Ventures, the company's global
strategic investment arm. The new $100
million fund will accelerate the growth of cloud companies
addressing some of today's most pressing needs including education
and reskilling, climate action, diversity, equity and inclusion,
and providing tech for nonprofits and foundations.
"Now more than ever, we believe business can be a powerful
platform for change. We must leverage technology and invest in
innovative ideas to drive the long-term health and wellness of all
citizens, enable equal access to education and fuel impactful
climate action," said Suzanne
DiBianca, Chief Impact Officer and EVP of Corporate
Relations at Salesforce. "Through this new fund, Salesforce will
invest in companies solving the world's most pressing social and
environmental challenges."
"Salesforce Ventures not only invests in the most innovative
cloud companies and founders globally, we lead with our values --
incorporating social responsibility, sustainability and diversity
into our investment process," said John
Somorjai, EVP of Corporate Development and Salesforce
Ventures. "We want to support next-gen entrepreneurs developing
solutions that drive digital transformation and customer success,
and also improve the state of the world."
Fueling Companies Driving Positive Social Change
The
new fund will invest in companies delivering solutions that address
today's urgent and interwoven crises:
- Education + Workforce Development: Companies enabling equal
access to high-quality education, reskilling and preparing workers
for jobs of the future.
- Sustainability: Companies creating better access to clean
energy, improving resource efficiency and supply chain performance
and developing new technologies that will help address climate
change.
- Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: Companies developing tools
that promote equal opportunity and economic empowerment for women
and underrepresented groups, as well as investing in women and
underrepresented founders.
- Social Sector Technology: Companies amplifying impact for
nonprofits, foundations and public sector customers through
technology that increases efficiency and transparency.
Additional Comments on the News
"Guild is on a
mission to unlock opportunity for America's workforce through
education, training and upskilling. Salesforce Ventures' support
has helped us sharpen our approach and the resources to innovate
and scale our work." said Rachel
Carlson, CEO & Co-Founder, Guild Education.
"We find ourselves confronting four crises: economic, racial
justice, health, and rapidly accelerating climate change. We need
enlightened business leadership now more than ever," said
Donnel Baird, CEO of BlocPower.
"BlocPower partners with Salesforce to help identify, analyze, and
track tens of thousands of urban buildings that need clean energy,
which creates jobs, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and helps to
create economic savings in historically disadvantaged communities.
We are proud that Salesforce Ventures is lending their business
acumen to increase investment in solving these intersecting
problems."
"Salesforce Ventures invested in Unite Us during a critical
growth year, helping us advance our mission to electronically
connect health and social care providers in communities across the
nation," said Dan Brillman,
co-founder and CEO of Unite Us. "They backed our vision of ensuring
communities efficiently coordinate and deliver essential wraparound
services that improve people's health and well-being. The
Salesforce Ventures Impact Fund deeply supports companies
transforming systems and improving people's lives, every single
day."
"We set out on a mission to support 1 million underrepresented
SMBs nationwide; these are the Next Wave Entrepreneurs who are
going to drive our economy forward. To have a mission-aligned
partner in Salesforce Ventures has been an integral piece in
helping us continue the work we're doing to deliver on that
promise," said Melissa Bradley,
Co-Founder at Ureeka.
Continued Investment in Social Good
Impact investing
is experiencing significant growth as businesses and investors
increasingly aim to make real-world change and build a better
future for all stakeholders. The Global Impact Investing Network
states that despite recent headwinds, impact investors hold a
positive outlook for the future, and estimates the market size at
$715 billion, up more than 40 percent
from last year.
In 2017, Salesforce Ventures introduced its first $50 million Salesforce Ventures Impact Fund to
support a new generation of startups that are focused on driving
positive social change. To date, this fund has invested in more
than 25 companies to help accelerate their impact around the world.
Building on the success of its current impact investing efforts,
Salesforce Ventures will continue to advance the growth of these
important companies by making new investments, and providing
portfolio companies with differentiated access to one of the
fastest growing enterprise software companies in the world,
offering credibility, expert advice and customer introductions.
Additional Information:
- To learn more about the new Impact Fund, please visit:
https://www.salesforce.com/company/ventures/impact/
- To learn more about Salesforce Ventures, please visit:
www.salesforce.com/company/ventures/
- Follow @Salesforce and @SalesforceVC on Twitter
ABOUT SALESFORCE
VENTURES
Salesforce is the global leader in Customer Relationship
Management (CRM), bringing companies closer to their customers in
the digital age. Salesforce Ventures, the global investment arm of
Salesforce, invests in the next generation of enterprise technology
that extends the power of the Salesforce Platform. Salesforce
Ventures is building the world's largest ecosystem of enterprise
cloud companies and extending that technology to customers.
Portfolio companies receive funding, strategic advisory, and
operating support, and can easily join Pledge 1% to make giving
back part of their business model. Salesforce Ventures has invested
in more than 400 companies, including DocuSign, GoCardless, Guild
Education, nCino, Twilio, Zoom, and others across 22 countries
since 2009. For more information, please visit
www.salesforce.com/ventures.
ABOUT SALESFORCE
Salesforce is the global leader in Customer Relationship
Management (CRM), bringing companies closer to their customers in
the digital age. Founded in 1999, Salesforce enables companies of
every size and industry to take advantage of powerful
technologies—cloud, mobile, social, internet of things, artificial
intelligence, voice and blockchain—to create a 360° view of their
customers. For more information about Salesforce (NYSE: CRM),
visit: www.salesforce.com.
Any unreleased services or features referenced in this or other
press releases or public statements are not currently available and
may not be delivered on time or at all. Customers who purchase
Salesforce applications should make their purchase decisions based
upon features that are currently available. Salesforce has
headquarters in San Francisco,
with offices in Europe and
Asia, and trades on the New York
Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "CRM." For more information
please visit https://www.salesforce.com, or call
1-800-NO-SOFTWARE.
View original content to download
multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/salesforce-ventures-launches-second-100-million-impact-fund-301146111.html
SOURCE Salesforce