The strategic investment was made to allow Appirio expand internationally in Europe and Asia, and its expansion is planned to be both organic and through acquisition, Appirio said.
Maria Martinez, executive vice president of the customers for life unit of salesforce.com, said: "Appirio is one of our most innovative partners and has contributed to the success of some of our largest customers in both the US and Japan. Partners like Appirio understand what it takes to make the social enterprise a reality, and our global enterprise customers need a global social enterprise partner. We’re happy to now help Appirio expand their brand and team globally."
In 2009 Appirio raised $10m in series C funding, according to news provider VentureBeat. At that time Appirio had raised $16.7m and it was also backed in the 2009 round by venture firm Sequoia Capital, VentureBeat said. Appirio has been backed by Stanford University and other angel investors, VentureBeat added.