US-based cloud computing company Salesforce has launched a $50m investment vehicle named Lightning Fund alongside an incubator for early-stage cloud startups, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday.
Salesforce expects the initiative will help it continue to foster an ecosystem of applications around its software development platform, also called Lightning.
The incubator will be located at Salesforce’s offices in San Mateo, California. Further details about the program have not yet emerged.
Bessemer Venture Partners, Cloud Apps Capital Partners, Emergence Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners will assist Salesforce to identify suitable startups for funding, according to Bloomberg.
Salesforce operates a cloud-based customer relationship management platform. The company first began investing in 2009, before establishing its corporate venturing division Salesforce Ventures in 2014.
Salesforce had invested $504.5m up until January 31, a significant increase over the $158m a year earlier, due in part to a $100m investment fund aimed at European startups set up in October 2015.
The company’s portfolio had a value of $706.9m as of April 30, a slight drop from $714.1m as of January 31, caused by a general cooling off of high valuations for startups.
Marc Benioff, chief executive of Salesforce, said: “We will give you real estate, money and support.”