Salesforce's $1 Billion Investment in AI Innovations

Salesforce Ventures is investing $1 billion in AI startups to tackle unprecedented business challenges.

### Investing in AI Innovation: Salesforce Ventures Expands to $1 Billion Fund
* 💼 Salesforce Ventures is now looking to invest **up to $1 billion**, building on last year's **$500 million fund** that supported **24 companies**, focusing on **AI innovations that address business challenges**.
* 🤖 "We feel that AI is one of the **most significant innovations in our lifetime**," indicating a strong belief in the **transformative power of AI technology**.
* 🎥 One notable investment is in a company called Runway, which **significantly streamlined the editing process** for the Oscar-winning film "Everything Everywhere All at Once," showcasing **real productivity improvements**.
* 🔍 Salesforce is actively seeking new business applications in areas not currently covered, particularly in **AI security**, to partner with innovative companies and **expand their solution offerings**.
* 🤝 While Salesforce partners with major AI providers like OpenAI and Anthropic, they also invest in foundational model developers such as **Hugging Face and Mistral**, reflecting a **diverse investment strategy**.
* 📈 Over the past 15 years, Salesforce Ventures has invested in over **630 companies** but has only acquired **20**, highlighting a **selective approach to acquisitions** despite a strong investment history.
* 🏙 During the Dreamforce event, with over **45,000 attendees**, there was a palpable energy as CIOs and entrepreneurs engaged, leading to **exciting encounters with founders redefining the future of AI**.
* ✨ The week was described as one of the **most exciting** in San Francisco, as significant connections were made that could lead to **future investments in transformative AI solutions**.

You basically invest now with almost like $1,000,000,000 capital play with off balance sheet from Salesforce. Right. And you're looking for things to add to what Marc Benioff was just talking about, Right? You're looking for the next frontier of an actual Gen Z tool. Exactly. So we feel that AI is one of the most significant innovations in our lifetime. And we're looking for entrepreneurs who are helping to solve business challenges in unprecedented ways that AI allows them to do so. And last year we announced a $500 million fund. We invested in 24 companies with that money, and we decided to expand that to up to $1,000,000,000 now to invest in this very exciting AI innovation. We just listened to Marc Benioff talk about why Salesforce is generative. Our offering is better than any company of any size engaging with the GPU provider right through to application layer. And it sounds like they're pretty happy with what they've got to offer.

So how can you go and find something new that Salesforce doesn't already have? Well, we're seeing interesting companies develop new business applications that are in new areas, like, for example, we invest in a company called Runway. And if you're familiar with the Oscar award-winning film, everything Everywhere, all at once. They used runway technology to take their editing staff from, you know, normally hundreds of people editing this very complex movie down to a handful of people using their technology. And this is real productivity value that's being delivered. We're seeing interesting developments in new models and new vertical applications in AI security in areas that we do not cover today, but we want to partner with these companies and deliver more solutions to our customers. You're not Anthropic. You're not listed as one of the wannabes in OpenAI. Why not? So we partner with both OpenAI and Anthropic and a number of other LEM

providers. We also have our own labs as well as large language models, and we are very excited about what we've invested in with Anthropic. We are in Hugging Face, which is an open-source provider of models. And we're also in Mistral, which is another provider. And so we feel pretty good about the investments that we've made at the foundational model level. And now we're looking to invest in different types of companies with this new $500 million fund. What's so interesting is four of Salesforce's last five acquisitions have been funded at some point by Salesforce Ventures. How much do you end up realizing you should buy these companies, not just strategically invest in them? Well, one of the benefits of investing in a company first is that you do get a chance to work with them and see how the technology can help deliver success to your customers. And we do partner very, very well with a

lot of the companies that we invest in. But keep in mind, we've made investments in over 630 companies over the past 15 years. We've only acquired 20 of the companies that we've invested in. So it's a very small minority of the businesses that we've invested in. But we're very excited about some of the recent acquisitions we've made out of the fund, like Spiff, which do an incentive compensation management, and Arket, which is a big foundational element of our agent force technology. We acquired them last year. Adam Evans, the founder of Arket, is a two-time boomerang back to Salesforce, so we're really excited to have him. John Tens of thousands of people have descended on our city for Dreamforce. So exciting. I've always thought about it as a customer event. I know loads of people that either work at Salesforce, MuleSoft, or they use CRM right historically for you.

What's the week been like in terms of unearthing interesting founders, interesting startups that you might write a check for? I think this week is one of the most exciting weeks I've ever been in San Francisco. The energy in the city is really palpable, and you're seeing CIOs and C-suite executives meeting with entrepreneurs at Dreamforce together all at Mosconi Center. We had over 45,000 people in person. And from my perspective, I got to say, the traffic was dreadful last night, very much from my perspective. I got to meet with some fascinating founders who are really redefining the way A.I. is going to work in the future and solving critical business challenges. So I'm very excited about what I saw this week.

Salesforce Ventures' New $500M AI Fund

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Investing in AI Innovation: A $1 Billion Fund

The speaker is investing up to $1 billion in AI innovation, expanding from a previous $500 million fund.

They are looking for entrepreneurs who are using AI to solve business challenges in unprecedented ways.

The speaker highlights their investment in companies like Runway, which is using AI technology to significantly reduce the number of people needed for complex tasks, and they aim to partner with new companies to deliver more solutions to customers.

Salesforce's Investment Strategy in AI and Model Providers

Salesforce has invested in various AI model providers, including Anthropic, Hugging Face, and Mistral, and is now launching a $500 million fund for further investments.

The company's strategy includes both investing in and acquiring companies, with four of its last five acquisitions being funded by Salesforce Ventures.

This approach allows Salesforce to work closely with these companies and leverage their technology to deliver success to customers.

The company has invested in over 630 businesses in the past 15 years, acquiring only 20 of them.

Recent acquisitions include Spiff, an incentive compensation management company, and Arket, which plays a key role in their agent force technology.

The founder of Arket, Adam Evans, has a strong connection to Salesforce, and the city is currently bustling with attendees for the Dreamforce event.

Exciting Week in San Francisco: Founders and Startups

This week in San Francisco has been incredibly exciting, with a palpable energy in the city.

Dreamforce at the Mosconi Center brought together over 45,000 people, including CIOs and C-suite executives meeting with entrepreneurs.

The week provided opportunities to meet fascinating founders who are redefining the future of A.

and solving critical business challenges.