Salesforce.com (CRM) has become the latest Silicon Valley tech company to launch an in-house venture capital program, this morning announcing the launch of a group that has $100 million in initial capital commitments.
It looks fairly similar to most other corporate venturing programs — such as Intel Capital — in that it appears more focused on improving Salesforce’s broader ecosystem than on producing financial returns. Basically a mutually-beneficial arrangement whereby Salesforce gets to more tightly integrate startups with its platform, and startups… well, they get to more tightly integrate with the Salesforce platform.
In addition, Salesforce is stressing that it will work with portfolio companies to help them implement the Salesforce.com Foundation’s 1-1-1- model of philanthropy.
It remains unclear is Salesforce Ventures has a dedicated team, or if it’s being led by the company’s existing corporate development group (the Salesforce Ventures website shows no investment professionals, and lists only to a generic contact form). So far, the group has invested in such companies as DocuSign, i.am+, InsideSales.com and Skuid.
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