From Seed to Salesforce: Celebrating Braze’s Next Chapter

Blumberg Capital congratulates Braze on its $5.66 billion acquisition agreement with Salesforce

By Bruce Taragin, managing director, Blumberg Capital

Today marks another milestone for Braze (NASDAQ: BRZE), which announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) in a transaction valued at approximately $5.66 billion.

As Braze’s first institutional investor and a longtime board member, Blumberg Capital is proud to celebrate this milestone with co-founders Bill Magnuson, Jon Hyman and Mark Ghermezian, and the Braze team. From its earliest days as a mobile-first startup to its 2021 IPO and now this next chapter with Salesforce, Braze’s journey reflects the power of visionary founders, technological innovation and a relentless focus on customers.

Key Takeaways

• Blumberg Capital led Braze’s first institutional seed round in 2011.

• Braze grew from a mobile-first startup into a global customer engagement platform.

• The proposed $5.66 billion Salesforce acquisition represents a major milestone in Braze’s growth.

• Braze’s evolution reflects the role of innovation, customer engagement, and AI in building technology companies.

A Vision That Started in 2011 with Braze’s Funding

Blumberg Capital led Braze’s first institutional Seed round in 2011, when mobile technology was fundamentally changing how consumers interacted with brands.

The founders recognized early that mobile technology and behavioral data would transform customer engagement, enabling brands to build more meaningful, personalized relationships with consumers.

What began as a bold vision became a category-defining business. Today, Braze serves more than 2,700 brands worldwide, helping marketers connect with customers across channels and in real time.

Building for What’s Next: AI-Powered Customer Engagement

Braze’s evolution illustrates the importance of anticipating major technology shifts.

The company recognized early that mobile would transform customer relationships. It subsequently helped brands embrace first-party data and coordinated engagement across digital channels. Today, AI represents the next major transformation, enabling businesses to move beyond traditional segmentation and campaigns toward intelligent, adaptive customer engagement.

Through BrazeAI, the company is helping marketers combine creativity, customer data and AI-powered decisioning to deliver more personalized experiences at scale.

The proposed combination with Salesforce represents an opportunity to accelerate that vision, bringing Braze’s real-time engagement capabilities together with Salesforce’s global reach, customer data and AI ecosystem.

Braze’s journey demonstrates how companies that continually innovate and adapt to transformative technology shifts can create enduring value.

Congratulations to Team Braze

It’s been a pleasure partnering with the Braze team, Bill, Job, Mark, Myles Kleeger, among many other talented employees, leaders and partners who have contributed to Braze’s success over the past 15 years.

We are proud to have been part of your journey and look forward to what comes next.

Read the official announcement.