Salesforce venture funds to invest $100M in Canadian cloud startups

Salesforce recently announced that its global corporate investment group, Salesforce Ventures, has launched the $100-million Canada Trailblazer Fund to strengthen Canadian startup companies. The first round of funding recipients chosen for their potential to push the growth of the cloud software market are cloud-based solutions provider Tier1CRM, cloud-based visitor management systems (VMS) developer Traction Guest, mobile application provider Tulip, and digital cloud transformation specialist OSF Commerce. Tier1CRM focuses on the capital markets industry built on Salesforce. Traction Guest helps global enterprises improve the workplace experience, bolster security and maximize visitor data. Tulip integrates with Salesforce to create apps for retail store associates to search products, manage customer information, check out shoppers and personalize the customer experience. OSF Commerce builds multi-cloud and unified commerce projects using Salesforce. The Trailblazer Fund is part of Salesforce’s commitment to invest $2 billion in its Canadian business over the next five years. Salesforce executive VP for corporate development John Somorjai noted the“incredible innovation” currently happening in Canada and said the company encourages cloud startups in the region.