The Chronological History of Salesforce Acquisitions
In preparation for my upcoming book I'm writing on Salesforce, I’ve delved into the company’s extensive acquisition history to uncover the strategic moves that have shaped its current position as a leader in cloud computing.
Having worked in the Salesforce ecosystem since 2012 after co-founding a Salesforce Consulting Partner, I have had the opportunity to experience each of these exciting announcements and how they were integrated into the platform over time. 2012 seems like a long time ago today, but to me, many of these acquisitions feel like they happened just yesterday.
Salesforce’s growth has been propelled by a series of key acquisitions, each contributing to the expansion and enhancement of its comprehensive suite of solutions. From early investments in mobile technology to recent advancements in AI-powered analytics, these acquisitions have not only strengthened Salesforce’s product offerings but have also solidified its market dominance. In this article, I provide a chronological overview of some of the most significant acquisitions that have driven Salesforce’s growth and innovation.
Here's a concise chronological list of Salesforce's key acquisitions:
April 2006: Sendia - $15 Million
Sendia provided technology for mobile access to Salesforce. Became the foundation for the Salesforce Mobile App.
August 2006: Kieden - Undisclosed
Kieden offered Google AdWords management tools. Integrated as Salesforce for Google AdWords (now retired).
April 2007: Koral Technologies - Undisclosed
Koral provided content management solutions. Contributed to the development of Salesforce Experience Cloud.
August 2008: Instranet - $31.5 Million
Instranet specialised in knowledge management software. Integrated into Salesforce Knowledge, enhancing customer service capabilities.
December 2009: GroupSwim - $7 Million
GroupSwim offered collaboration tools. Contributed to the development of Salesforce Chatter.
December 2009: Informavores - Undisclosed
Informavores provided workflow automation tools. Integrated into Salesforce Flow, enhancing process automation capabilities.
April 2010: Jigsaw - $142 Million
Jigsaw was a crowdsourced data services company. Became Salesforce Data.com (now retired).
May 2010: Sitemasher - Undisclosed
Sitemasher offered website building and management tools. Contributed to the development of Salesforce Experience Cloud.
September 2010: Activa Live - Undisclosed
Activa Live provided chat and customer support solutions. Integrated into Salesforce Chat (Digital Engagement).
December 2010: Heroku - $212 Million
Heroku offered a cloud application platform. Continues to operate as Heroku, providing PaaS solutions.
December 2010: Etacts - Undisclosed
Etacts provided customer relationship management tools. Contributed to the development of Salesforce Inbox.
January 2011: Dimdim - $31 Million
Dimdim offered real-time communication tools. Integrated into Salesforce Chatter, enhancing collaboration features.
February 2011: Manymoon - $30 Million
Manymoon provided task and project management tools. Became Do.com (now retired).
May 2011: Radian6 - $340 Million
Radian6 offered social media monitoring tools. Integrated into Social Studio (now retired).
May 2011: Zorap - Undisclosed
Zorap provided video chat technology. Contributed to enhancing Salesforce Chatter.
August 2011: Navajo Systems - $30 Million
Navajo Systems specialised in cloud data security. Integrated into Salesforce Platform, enhancing security features.
September 2011: Assistly - $80 Million
Assistly offered customer support tools. Became Desk.com (now retired).
November 2011: Model Metrics - Undisclosed
Model Metrics was a mobile and social cloud consulting firm. Integrated into Salesforce Professional Services.
December 2011: Rypple - Undisclosed
Rypple provided social performance management software. Became Salesforce Work.com (now retired).
May 2012: Stypi - Undisclosed
Stypi offered real-time collaborative editing tools. Technology retired after integration.
June 2012: ChoicePass - Undisclosed
ChoicePass provided employee reward programs. Technology retired after integration.
June 2012: Thinkfuse - Undisclosed
Thinkfuse offered team collaboration tools. Technology retired after integration.
July 2012: GoInstant - $70 Million
GoInstant provided co-browsing technology. Technology retired after integration.
August 2012: Buddy Media - $689 Million
Buddy Media offered social media marketing solutions. Integrated into Social Studio (now retired).
November 2012: Prior Knowledge - $24.2m
Prior Knowledge specialised in predictive analytics. Technology retired after integration.
February 2013: EntropySoft - Undisclosed
EntropySoft provided content integration solutions. Contributed to enhancing Salesforce Chatter.
May 2013: Clipboard - $20 Million
Clipboard offered web clipping and sharing tools. Technology retired after integration.
June 2013: ExactTarget and Pardot - $2.5 Billion
ExactTarget provided digital marketing automation and analytics. Became the foundation of Marketing Cloud Engagement. Pardot was acquired as part of the ExactTarget deal.
June 2013: EdgeSpring - Undisclosed
EdgeSpring offered business intelligence and analytics tools. Integrated into the Salesforce Platform, enhancing analytics capabilities.
July 2014: RelateIQ - $390 Million
RelateIQ provided relationship intelligence technology. Integrated into Salesforce Inbox, enhancing email intelligence features.
April 2015: Toopher - Undisclosed
Toopher specialised in mobile authentication technology. Integrated into Salesforce Platform, enhancing security features.
May 2015: Tempo AI - Undisclosed
Tempo AI offered smart calendar applications. Contributed to the development of Salesforce Inbox.
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July 2015: Kerensen Consulting - $24.2 Million
Kerensen was a Salesforce implementation partner. Integrated into Salesforce Professional Services.
September 2015: AKTA - Undisclosed
AKTA was a mobile design and development firm. Integrated into Salesforce Professional Services.
December 2015: SteelBrick - $360 Million
SteelBrick provided quote-to-cash applications. Became Salesforce CPQ, enhancing configure-price-quote capabilities.
December 2015: MinHash - Undisclosed
MinHash offered AI-powered marketing solutions. Integrated into Salesforce Marketing Cloud, enhancing AI capabilities.
January 2016: YOUR SL - Undisclosed
YOUR SL was a Salesforce consulting partner. Integrated into Salesforce Professional Services.
February 2016: PredictionIO - Undisclosed
PredictionIO offered machine learning server technology. Contributed to the development of Salesforce Einstein.
April 2016: MetaMind - $32.8 Million
MetaMind specialised in deep learning technology. Integrated into Salesforce Einstein, enhancing AI capabilities.
May 2016: Implisit Insights - Undisclosed
Implisit provided predictive intelligence solutions. Contributed to the development of Salesforce Einstein.
July 2016: Coolan - Undisclosed
Coolan offered data center analytics. Integrated into Salesforce Platform, enhancing infrastructure management.
July 2016: Quip - $750 Million
Quip provided collaborative productivity software. Continues to operate as Quip, deeply integrated with Salesforce.
July 2016: Demandware - $2.8 Billion
Demandware offered e-commerce solutions. Became B2C Commerce Cloud, expanding Salesforce's e-commerce capabilities.
August 2016: BeyondCore - $110 Million
BeyondCore provided automated analytics technology. Integrated into CRM Analytics, enhancing business intelligence features.
September 2016: HeyWire - Undisclosed
HeyWire offered business messaging solutions. Integrated into Salesforce Chat / Digital Engagement.
September 2016: Gravitytank - Undisclosed
Gravitytank was an innovation consultancy. Integrated into Salesforce Professional Services.
October 2016: Krux - $700 Million
Krux offered data management platform solutions. Became Salesforce DMP (now retired).
December 2016: Twin Prime - Undisclosed
Twin Prime provided mobile app acceleration technology. Integrated into Salesforce Mobile App, improving performance.
January 2017: Sequence LLC - $26 Million
Sequence was a user experience design agency. Integrated into Salesforce Professional Services.
January 2018: Attic Labs (Nom) - Undisclosed
Attic Labs developed a decentralised database. Integrated into Quip, enhancing data management capabilities.
April 2018: CloudCraze - Undisclosed
CloudCraze offered B2B commerce solutions. Became B2B Commerce Cloud, expanding Salesforce's commerce capabilities.
May 2018: MuleSoft - $6.5 Billion
MuleSoft provided integration software for connecting applications, data, and devices. Continues to operate as MuleSoft, a crucial part of Salesforce's Integration Cloud.
July 2018: Datorama - $800 Million
Datorama offered AI-powered marketing intelligence and analytics. Became Marketing Cloud Intelligence, enhancing marketing analytics capabilities.
October 2018: Rebel - Undisclosed
Rebel provided email marketing technology. Integrated into Marketing Cloud Engagement, enhancing email capabilities.
January 2019: Griddable - Undisclosed
Griddable offered cloud database migration solutions. Integration details are not widely known.
April 2019: MapAnything - $225 Million
MapAnything provided location-based intelligence solutions. Became Salesforce Maps, enhancing geographical data visualisation.
June 2019: Tableau - $15.7 Billion
Tableau offered data visualization and analytics platform. Continues to operate as Tableau, deeply integrated with Salesforce's analytics ecosystem.
August 2019: ClickSoftware - $1.35 Billion
ClickSoftware provided field service management solutions. Integrated into Field Service Cloud, improving scheduling and workforce management.
February 2020: Evergage - Undisclosed
Evergage offered personalisation and customer data platform technology. Became part of Marketing Cloud Personalisation.
February 2020: Vlocity - $1.33 Billion
Vlocity provided industry-specific cloud and mobile software. Integrated into Salesforce as Industry Clouds, offering tailored solutions for various sectors.
December 2020: Acumen Solutions - $570 Million
Acumen Solutions was a professional services firm specializing in digital transformation. Integrated into Salesforce Professional Services.
July 2021: Slack - $27.7 Billion
Slack is a business communication platform. Continues to operate as Slack, deeply integrated with Salesforce's ecosystem.
April 2022: Traction on Demand - Undisclosed
Traction on Demand was a Salesforce consulting and application development firm. Integrated into Salesforce Professional Services.
February 2024: Spiff - $419m
Spiff provides sales commission software. Integrated into Sales Cloud, enhancing commission management capabilities.
In Conclusion...
As we examine Salesforce’s acquisition strategy, it becomes clear that these strategic moves have been instrumental in building the robust platform that many businesses rely on today.
Each acquisition, from small startups to billion-dollar deals, has brought unique value, enabling Salesforce to continuously innovate and stay ahead of the competition.
This research serves as a foundation for my upcoming book, where I will explore in greater detail how organisations can successfully harness the power of the Salesforce ecosystem to generate business value.
I hope this article provides valuable insights into the strategic thinking behind Salesforce’s growth and offers a glimpse into the company’s journey toward becoming a leader in the industry. I'd really appreciate feedback if I've missed anything.
International Product Executive with a history of delighting customers and building product teams
1 个月Looking forward to your book. Please ping me when it is available ??
President Client Success - ANZ
2 个月Looking forward to reading it!
Founder | VR for Learning and Innovation.
3 个月I’m not sure if you would include Brighter Option, which became BuyBuddy and then Social.com. Technically, it was acquired by Buddy Media, but only a few months before Salesforce acquired Buddy Media. It did become its own standalone product after that.