Salesforce Ventures: Weaving Impact into the DNA of Enterprise Leaders
As a founding member of Pledge 1% and a committed boardroom ally, Salesforce Ventures believes that values drive value. From day one, we have embedded philanthropy and giving back into our mission, championing Pledge 1% as a core best practice. Our track record of top quartile returns, incredible founders, and unparalleled ecosystem impact proves that this approach is not just good for the world—it’s good for business.
At Salesforce Ventures, our values—courage, trust, equality, and mutual success—are the foundation of how we build lasting relationships with founders. We actively promote practices that foster inclusive and impactful companies through our Impact Fund and initiatives, such as Pledge 1% and our own annual volunteer goals.
Our commitment to Pledge 1% isn’t just advisory; it’s an active partnership. We share the benefits of incorporating the Pledge 1% model—donating 1% of equity, profit, product, or employee time—into our portfolio company’s businesses from the outset, and we model this behavior by setting ambitious annual volunteer goals for our own team.
The Impact Snapshot:
- Over 200 companies in the Salesforce Ventures portfolio have taken the Pledge to date.
- Each year, our global teams and portfolio companies unite for a day of service, putting our values into action. For example, our 2025 efforts spanned the globe, partnering with nonprofits like Splashes of Hope (NYC), Made in Hackney’s Community Cookery School (UK), SVA Books For All (JP), and Playworks (National).
Celebrating the Transformation: Airwallex
Every year, the Cloud 100 event celebrates the world’s top private cloud companies and acknowledges those who lead the charge in giving back. Past Pledge 1% Award winners—including Icons like Twilio, Docusign, Slack, Procore, Canva, Guild, Snyk, Checkr, and Service Titan—have consistently proven that purpose-driven companies perform better.
This year, the Pledge 1% Award—presented by Salesforce Ventures—went to a company that exemplifies this transformation: Airwallex.
Airwallex, a global payments platform, didn’t wait until it was “big enough” or “profitable enough” to make a difference. Instead, it wove impact into its DNA from the start. On its tenth anniversary, the company formalized this commitment by taking the Pledge.
What makes their story so inspiring is how the entire organization embraced the commitment. Teams across Finance, Legal, People, and Leadership came together, asking: “How can our success create a broader impact?”
Their giving back contributions showcase the power of this grassroots effort:
- A 58% increase in employee volunteering.
- 43 scholarships awarded.
- Support for over 1,800 startups that are naturally uplifting entire ecosystems
Airwallex is just one recent example from our portfolio that proves that leveraging your assets for good isn’t a distraction from success—it’s a catalyst for it.
