Investor · 1 deal
Software company
Every published round Salesforce took part in, and every parcel of existing shares it bought off another holder. Deals we hold but haven't published yet are not counted.
| Company | Stage | Announced | Amount | Role | Alongside | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apromore (exited) | Series B | 9 Dec 2022 | $15.8m | Lead | Techboard, SmartCompany, Startup Daily |
Companies Salesforce has backed in a published round, and companies whose existing shares it bought off another holder.
| Company | What it does | First invested | Rounds | Led |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apromore (exited) | 9 Dec 2022, Series B | 1 | 1 |
Fund closes reported for Salesforce, as distinct from the investments it has made.
Companies Salesforce has backed that another company then bought. An exit for the holding, not a deal Salesforce did.
| Name | Role | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Alice Steinglass | Executive Vice President and General Manager, Platform | Australian FinTech |
| Bret Taylor | co-CEO (former) | groundy.com, faq.com.tw, theaiworld.org, cmswire.com, techbuzz.ai, TechCrunch Venture, theubj.com, Startup Daily |
| David Yip | APAC Education Leader (former) | SmartCompany, Startup Daily |
| Marc Benioff | Founder and CEO | techbuzz.ai, Rampersand, Startup Daily (24 Oct 2025), SmartCompany, Startup Daily (30 Jan 2023), Forbes Australia (11 Dec 2022), Forbes Australia (30 Nov 2022) |
| Paul Williamson | Exec (former) | Startup Daily, SmartCompany |
Stories naming Salesforce. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
Blog item on the AI funding climate: sales platform Clay reportedly raising at a stepped-up valuation with Wellington Management leading, plus a recap of its CapitalG Series C and other AI funding notes.
Banyan Software has bought retention marketing firm CRMA and will pair it with its Australian platform Harrier National; terms undisclosed, with CRMA's founder remaining to guide the business.
At a Sydney event, Canva's co-founder explained how soaring compute bills forced a delay to its AI relaunch, and how homegrown models cut serving costs; he also recalls early government backing.
Salesforce specialist Davanti has been sold by Dentsu to US buyer Enduring Ventures and has reverted from the Merkle brand to its original name, with the deal completed at the end of June.
Also Dealroom
Roundup of three early-stage AI raises: BlueNexus's $2 million seed, Hyades's NZ$910,000 pre-seed plus a research grant, and ESGAgent's undisclosed round. All three companies are pre-revenue.
Analysis of Sierra's $950 million raise at a $15 billion valuation with Tiger Global and GV at the lead, weighing its revenue multiple, Fortune 50 customer lock-in, and competition from OpenAI and Anthropic's ventures.
Analysis of Lightspeed Venture Partners' 2026 close of three funds totalling nine billion dollars, its backer base, AI allocation, portfolio outcomes and comparisons with other big venture firms.
Sierra, the enterprise AI agent firm started by Bret Taylor and Clay Bavor, has banked a $950 million Series E with Tiger Global and Google Ventures at the helm, plus Benchmark, Sequoia and Greenoaks.
Also TechCrunch Australia·aivy.com.au·cmswire.com·theaiworld.org·faq.com.tw·groundy.com
Google Cloud has committed US$750 million to a new partner fund for agentic AI resources and incentives, unveiled at Cloud Next; the piece also recalls Google's March acquisition of security firm Wiz.
Blackbird partner Tom Humphrey argues AI panic overstates the threat to software firms, sketching four stages from bolting on models to training them, and pointing to Canva's acquisitions and Springboards' new model as proof.
Also Crikey·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily
Rampersand's December newsletter leads with its $2m pre-seed investment in Cor, maker of the Obi AI avatar coach, plus trend retrospectives, tech news, portfolio updates, community events and a job ad.
Roundup of a quiet funding week: Melbourne workforce-platform maker 2cloudnine banked over $7.5m, algae-ingredient maker SeaStock $740,000 from government accelerator FaBA, while San Francisco's Sumble emerged with $59m.
Also Startup Daily
Melbourne AI medical-notes startup Heidi Health has banked a $98 million Series B led by Point72 at a $704 million valuation, adding two senior clinical and commercial hires to its leadership.
Also Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Forbes Australia
Freckle, whose tool cleans and enriches CRM data for revenue operations teams, announces a $4 million seed round with Gradient and 1984 Ventures at the helm, plus product plans and open roles.
Column on Atlassian's $935 million takeover of the Arc and Dia developer, arguing the deal fits its workplace software strategy amid intensifying competition in AI browsing tools.
Also Forbes Australia·Startup Daily·TechCrunch Australia·Forbes Australia·Tech Funding News - Australia
Sierra has announced a $350 million Greenoaks-led round at a $10 billion valuation. The enterprise AI agent company previously took money from Sequoia, Benchmark and Greenoaks.
Weekly roundup detailing new capital for Australian startups Diraq, BrainFish, RecycleSmart, Cohabit and Five Faces, alongside Alumly's undisclosed multimillion-dollar backing from UK investor Mauve Group.
Also Startup Daily
Alumly, a Melbourne edtech startup founded by ex-Salesforce executive David Yip, has closed a seven-figure angel round led by Mauve Group cofounders Ann and John Ellis to help students find paid work.
Also SmartCompany
UK-based consultancy Bluprintx has bought Australian Salesforce partner Skie, with lender ThinCats funding the deal; Skie co-founder Adam Troughear moves into a Bluprintx executive role.
AI agent platform Relevance AI has closed a Bessemer-led Series B with its earlier backers reinvesting, and is rolling out new agent-building tools while expanding its American go-to-market presence.
Melbourne-based digital business card maker Blinq has raised a $25 million Series A round, with Touring Capital leading and Blackbird, Square Peg and HubSpot Ventures joining, to grow its enterprise reach.
Payments firm GoCardless has released an integration bringing its bank payment tools into Salesforce via the AppExchange marketplace, aimed at energy, financial services, property and government customers.
CloudWave announced a $75 million round to speed growth and broaden its cloud services; the page also lists recent raises by ProvanAI, ProducePay, Peaky, Boring Company, Watu, Render and Arcee AI.
A Blackbird partner argues AI has revived vertical software by turning hard-to-sell customers into product-led buyers, noting the firm recently backed three such startups and recalling Aconex's sale to Oracle.
Also buildxact.com
Forbes Australia profiles Canva's enterprise relaunch after a demo with COO Cliff Obrecht, covering new sales, marketing and HR tools; Airtree's co-founder recalls the firm's early backing of the company.
Atlassian's co-founder Scott Farquhar will vacate the co-CEO seat on August 31, staying on in governance and advisory roles, with Mike Cannon-Brookes set to lead alone from September.
Square Peg profiles its Global Tech Fund, a listed-markets strategy applying its venture investing approach to early-stage public tech companies, and outlines its team, edge, and focus on fintech, software and AI.
Also Square Peg Capital
Deputy says it is now worth more than A$1.1 billion after US staffing group Express Employment Professionals put in A$37 million, making the Sydney workforce-tech firm Australia's newest unicorn.
Salesforce consultancy Cloudwerx has bought data and AI firm Lightfold, its first acquisition since CVC Emerging Companies invested in 2022.
Brisbane-based venture firm VentureOn hires Gauri Chawla as a general partner to build its North American presence; her background includes a senior inriver role before its private equity sale.
Atlassian is buying US video-messaging firm Loom for $1.5 billion in a mostly-cash deal, folding its async video tool into Jira, Confluence and Trello while it stays standalone; regulatory sign-off still pending.
Also Startup Daily·ARN (ARNnet)·Forbes Australia·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily
Canva launched Magic Studio, ten generative AI tools bundled into existing subscriptions at no extra cost, alongside a royalty program for creators and an enterprise security platform.
Square Peg's analysis argues generative AI enables startups to attack the databases companies run on, drawing lessons from cloud-era winners and citing its portfolio company Partly as a new-category example.
KPMG data shows Australian startup funding fell sharply in early 2023, though AI and climate tech stayed strong, with several large raises listed and a new Main Sequence fund announced.
Also Startup Daily
Podcast interview in which Bluprintx Group CEO Lee Hackett recounts moving from professional football into business, building a company he sold to a UK plc, then scaling Bluprintx internationally.
Australian learning platform Go1 is buying Berlin's Blinkist to grow its corporate training offering; deal terms are undisclosed, though Blinkist backer Insight Partners is taking $30 million of Go1 equity alongside the purchase.
Also SmartCompany·Techboard
Salesforce is shutting its Australian venture arm amid global layoffs. Local head Mike Ferrari has departed, and the unit's Australian investments will now be run from the company's American headquarters.
Ignition Lane's year-end review of 2022 tech news: shifting VC sentiment, record Australian fund raises, grocery delivery failures and shutdowns, local M&A, crypto fallout, awards, and global stories from Twitter to ChatGPT.
Also AgFunderNews
A weekly roundup reporting ten Australian startup funding rounds totalling roughly eighty million dollars, spanning insurance tech, biotech, process mining, connectivity and food, with several female-founded companies among the recipients.
Process mining startup Apromore, spun out of Melbourne University, raised US$10.3 million (A$15.8 million) in Series B funding from Salesforce and GBTEC, and announced a product partnership with Salesforce.
Also SmartCompany·Techboard