In a move that underscores its commitment to streamlining sales operations through technology, Salesforce has announced the acquisition of Troops.ai, a bot-based service that integrates with Slack to facilitate data retrieval and updates across various systems within the Salesforce ecosystem. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but Troops will become an integral part of Slack upon closing in Q2 2023, pending customary conditions.
A Milestone for Troops
The acquisition marks a significant milestone in the journey of Troops.ai, which was founded in 2016 by Dan Reich, Scott Britton, and Greg Ratner. The trio aimed to revolutionize the way work is done by leveraging Slack as a conduit to pull and push customer relationship management (CRM) data within Salesforce.
In a blog post celebrating this achievement, Reich reflected on the company’s mission: "We wanted to reimagine how work gets done. We wanted to make work easier, more intelligent, and more collaborative." He extended gratitude to the Troops community, customers, partners, investors, and team members for their unwavering support throughout the journey.
A Brief History of Troops.ai
Troops’ inception was a result of its founders’ collective experience in various industries. Reich co-founded social analytics service Spinback, while Britton was previously part of online business management platform SinglePlatform. Ratner served as director of technology at creative agency Deep Focus before joining forces with Reich and Britton to establish Troops.
With the integration of Salesforce, Google Apps, and Slack, along with data processing and analytics tools on the back end, Troops quickly garnered investor interest, including from Slack’s own Slack Fund. Prior to the acquisition by Salesforce, Troops secured $19.4 million in venture capital funding from a range of investors.
While there is no confirmation on whether the founding team will join Salesforce or what current customers can expect following the deal’s closure, we have reached out for more information and will update this post accordingly.
Salesforce’s Unification Efforts
This acquisition comes as Salesforce seeks to further integrate Slack with its broader software portfolio. When Salesforce acquired Slack in 2020, analysts were skeptical about its ability to successfully layer the chat platform on top of existing offerings. Despite these concerns, Salesforce has been working diligently to unify its products.
In a recent move, Salesforce unveiled a set of low-code developer tools, known as Salesforce Platform for Slack, aimed at bringing Slack and Salesforce’s legacy products closer together. Alongside this announcement, new Slack apps were released to automate deal status updates, maintain records in Salesforce, assign service cases to team members, and more.
The acquisition of Troops.ai is a testament to Salesforce’s commitment to enhancing its sales operations through technology and further solidifying its position as a leader in the CRM industry. As Salesforce continues to navigate its product unification efforts, this deal is likely to have significant implications for both companies involved.
Key Takeaways
- Salesforce acquires Troops.ai: The acquisition aims to enhance integration with Slack and streamline sales operations through technology.
- Troops.ai’s mission: Founded in 2016 by Dan Reich, Scott Britton, and Greg Ratner, Troops aimed to revolutionize the way work is done by leveraging Slack as a conduit for CRM data within Salesforce.
- Investor interest: Prior to the acquisition, Troops secured $19.4 million in venture capital funding from investors including Slack Fund.
- Salesforce’s unification efforts: The company seeks to integrate Slack with its broader software portfolio and has released new developer tools aimed at bringing products closer together.
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