Slack Launches App Directory And Joins Top VCs For $80M Fund Backing Developers

Slack just hatched a master plan to ensure it becomes the social and collaboration hub of the enterprise. It’s harnessing all its Silicon Valley hype to create rocket fuel for its growing app platform.

Slack wants to lock in the 2 million daily active users and 570,000 paid seats it now has. That means getting developers to build Slack apps beyond the 150 like Dropbox and Twilio that it’s now showing off in its new App Directory, which we reported on Monday was coming.

So tonight Slack announced it’s teamed up with its investors, who happen to be the Bay Area A-list of VCs —  Accel, Andreessen Horowitz, Index Ventures, KPCB, Spark, and Social+Capital. Together they’ve thrown in $80 million for a Slack-first fund.

It will back enterprise software developers making Slack integrations part of their core product. Slack and its VCs want these developers to make Slack more useful and convenient with apps for doing all sorts of things in the workplace.

The Slack Fund has already made three investments: Howdy, Awesome and Small Wins.

The $80 million basically guarantees there will continue to be a healthy Slack platform. Competitors who copy its core messaging features can’t copy the developer ecosystem. That could give Slack an edge on HipChat and other competitors.

The fact that Slack was able to raise this fund shows just how much VCs believe in it. If they can’t buy more Slack equity, they’ll ensure their existing investment by pledging to back its platform. Even if the Slack Fund investments don’t turn into huge exits themselves, they’ll increase the likelihood that Slack wins big.