Seizing US$250 million in funds, Salesforce Ventures plans to pour the capital into a startup developing AI technology, including Anthropic, You.com, Cohere, and Hearth.AI
Heaptalk, Jakarta — Salesforce Inc’s investment arm, Salesforce Ventures, has launched a US$250 million, or nearly Rp3.8 trillion, to invest in a startup that develops generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology. The fund coincides with Salesforce’s Einstein GPT establishment – a generative AI tool for customer relationship management.
“This fund will expedite our objective to fostering the next generation of innovation, and we are excited to see how these companies reinvent how the world works. Salesforce has invested in high-potential enterprise technology businesses for over a decade. These initial investments from the fund in generative AI companies fit squarely into that strategy, ” affirmed John Somorjai, EVP of Corporate Development and Salesforce Ventures at Salesforce.
Starting the investment plan, San Fransisco-based venture capital firm will disburse the fund in the AI startup Anthropic, a search engine leveraging AI You.com; a computer language model training startup Cohere; and Hearth.AI – a generative AI startup emerging from stealth.
The firm observed these companies had substantiated their abilities extensively transform application software which impacted the users’ workflows, with a trusted and responsible development process. Previously, Salesforce Ventures has also poured funds into multiple enterprises that have gone public, covering Zoom Video Communications Inc, Snowflake Inc, and DocuSign Inc.
Cited in the pitchbook, the fund is the firm’s largest with a wide margin. Salesforce has secured funds ranging from US$50 million to US$125 million over the past decade. In addition, the US-based venture capital firm obtained US$50 million for an AI innovation fund to bolster its AI toolset, Einstein, in 2017.
The pitchbook data revealed that Salesforce Ventures had been involved in 140 venture capital deals for AI and machine learning startups, representing about 19% of its total investment. During its investment record, Salesforce Ventures has become the second-most active venture capital firm, with around 236 investment deals since 2018.
