Founders meet with Salesforce Ventures at TechCrunch Include’s April Office Hours

Published April 11, 2019

TechCrunch Include is partnering with Salesforce Ventures to host this month’s Include Office Hours on April 30th. From 2:00pm – 4:00pm, Salesforce Ventures investors Matt Garratt, Phoebe Peronto, Spencer Chavez, and Claudine Emeott will meet with founders one on one, for 20 minutes, to offer guidance, advice and product feedback. You can apply here.

TechCrunch launched the Include program in 2014 to connect underserved and underrepresented founders in tech to our vast network and facilitate opportunities. The Include Office Hours program is one such initiative. TechCrunch partners with a VC firm a few times a year to give diverse founders a unique opportunity to meet privately with investors to get advice on building and developing their startups.

Underserved and underrepresented founders are invited to apply. Diverse founders include, but are not limited to, female founders, veterans, Latino/a, Black, LGBTQ and founders with disabilities.

Salesforce Ventures will be hosting office hours on April 30th from 2:00pm – 4:00pm. Salesforce Ventures is interested in meeting with founders from the following categories: B2B SaaS & Enterprise Technology Startups across multiple sectors including retail, fintech, digital health, manufacturing, impact (education, sustainability, diversity & inclusion) in addition to AI/ML, developer tools and blockchain. Founded in 2009, the firm’s portfolio consists of 300+ investments in more than 20 countries. Companies in the Salesforce Ventures portfolio typically receive funding, access to one of the world’s largest cloud systems and guidance from the company’s execs. Connect with Salesforce Ventures here.

Let’s meet the investors:

Matt Garratt, Managing Partner, Salesforce Ventures

Matt Garratt is the managing partner of Salesforce Ventures. Matt has completed investments in leading enterprise SaaS companies, including companies such as DocuSign, MuleSoft and Twilio. Prior to joining Salesforce Ventures, he was a vice president at Battery Ventures, where he invested in early-stage enterprise software and GreenIT companies. Matt was also a vice president of Plymouth Ventures, a late-stage investment fund based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He has also worked for GE in their corporate strategy group and has spent time in Africa monitoring energy and infrastructure investments for E+Co, a public-purpose investment.

Phoebe Peronto, Principal, Salesforce Ventures

Phoebe Peronto is a principal at Salesforce Ventures, where she focuses on investing in enterprise SaaS companies in various industry sectors, including retail/commerce, developer tools and emerging technologies (AI/ML, blockchain). She joined Salesforce by way of the investing team at GV, and operational roles at both Google Inc. and Rocket Internet. Phoebe holds a dual degree from UC Berkeley in Political Science and Business Administration and graduated with high distinction as a George Baker Scholar from Harvard Business School. Based in San Francisco, Phoebe has become one of those crazy obsessed coffee people.

Spencer Chavez, Principal, Salesforce Ventures

Spencer Chavez is a principal at Salesforce Ventures, where he is responsible for both sourcing and executing investments in enterprise software companies, with a recent focus on companies in the fintech, AI/ML and digital health spaces. Prior to joining Salesforce Ventures, Spencer was on the investment team at JMI Equity, where he focused on making growth equity investments in enterprise software companies. Earlier in his career, Spencer worked in the investment banking divisions at both Citigroup and Needham & Company, where he helped advise the firms’ technology clients on M&A and capital-raising initiatives. Spencer graduated from Santa Clara University with a B.S. in Commerce, majoring in finance and minoring in economics.

Claudine Emeott, Senior Director of Impact Investing, Salesforce

Claudine Emeott leads the Salesforce Impact Fund and is looking to invest in mission-driven enterprise technology companies in education, sustainability, diversity + inclusion, and enabling technology for the social sector. Prior to Salesforce, Claudine led impact investing at Kiva, developing a new funding model for social enterprises and spearheading a new impact framework. Before moving to the Bay Area, Claudine spent the first half of her career in economic development consulting and has lived in Beijing, Chicago and Kathmandu. Claudine holds a B.A. from Harvard and a master’s from MIT.

If you are a partner/managing director of a firm and are interested in supporting underserved and underrepresented founders, email neesha@techcrunch.com.