As part of Salesforce’s big tech conference Dreamforce in San Francisco this week, VC arm Salesforce Ventures announced a new $500 million fund dedicated to AI companies. This is significant for several reasons. First, in June 2023, Salesforce Ventures will double its AI fund from $250 million to $500 million, and the additional $500 million will bring the AI fund to $1 billion. That compares to a total of $5 billion committed in the 15 years since its launch in 2009.
Salesforce Ventures is also one of the driving forces behind making San Francisco a hotspot for AI companies, drawing startups from around the world to the city. Like many VC firms, for example, the venture arm hosts dinners for portfolio companies and Fortune 500 executives (aka prospects). Unsurprisingly, its AI portfolio is already notable, including Anthropic, Hugging Face, Runway, and Together AI.
