Salesforce Earmarks $100M To Invest In European Cloud Startups

Salesforce Ventures, the investment arm of the cloud services giant, has pumped half a billion dollars into over 150 cloud and enterprise startups since 2009. But with most of those investments focused on the U.S., Salesforce Ventures is now getting more serious in the Old World. Today, the group is announcing that has earmarked $100 million to invest specifically in European startups.

Of the 150+ companies in Salesforce Ventures’ portfolio today, only 17 come from Europe. Considering that proportion, today’s news is a big step ahead for the business.

“It’s now the right time for us in Europe,” John Somorjai, Salesforce’s EVP of Corporate Development and Salesforce Ventures, said in an interview. “Europe is adopting the cloud very rapidly, and the opportunities are immense for us with an enormous pipeline for us to invest in.”

He cites figures from IDC to back up his belief: the analysts believe that European business investment in cloud-based software and services will grow twelve times faster than other IT segments, with €33.3 billion put into cloud services by 2019.

Somorjai said that five investments have already been made out of SV’s $100 million budget that will be announced in the next couple of months. The sizes of the rounds will vary, he added.