Salesforce  to acquire the Palo Alto, California data startup RelateIQ

Salesforce will pay up to $390 million for the Palo Alto, California-based startup, which provides relationship intelligence via data science and machine learning.salesforce-logo-635

Rumor has it that Saleforce will pay up to $390 million for the Palo Alto, California-based startup RelateIQ which provides relationship intelligence.  RelateIQ will become a Salesforce subsidiary.

RelateIQ claims to have built “the world’s first Relationship Intelligence platform” that redefines the world of CRM.

CRM

Customer Relationship Management definition business (CRM, CIS, Customer Information Systems, Customer Interaction Software, TERM, Technology Enabled Relationship Manager) Enterprise-wide software applications that allow companies to manage every aspect of their relationship with a customer. The aim of these systems is to assist in building lasting customer relationships – to turn customer satisfaction into customer loyalty. Customer information acquired from sales, marketing, customer service, and support is captured and stored in a centralised database. The system may provide data-mining facilities that support an opportunity management system. It may also be integrated with other systems such as accounting and manufacturing for a truly enterprise-wide system with thousands of users. (1999-08-20)

In a nutshell, the platform captures sales data from email, calendars and smartphone calls and social media to provide insights in real time.

Home1@2xRelateIQ co-founder Steve Loughlin writes:

We believe this offers our customers the best of both worlds. Salesforce.com pioneered the shift to enterprise cloud computing, redefining modern CRM as we know it. As you know, RelateIQ is pioneering the next generation of intelligent computing through data science and machine learning. Looking ahead, salesforce.com’s acquisition of RelateIQ will extend the value of salesforce.com’s #1 CRM apps and platform with a new level of intelligence across sales, service, and marketing.

The acquisition is a notable one for Salesforce, as the company’s second largest to date.