Salesforce acquires startup Cresta for $2.7 billion

Salesforce has continued its recent acquisition spree, announcing plans to acquire Cresta, a nine-year-old provider of AI-powered contact center automation software. According to people familiar with the matter, Salesforce did not disclose the transaction price but has agreed to acquire Cresta for $2.7 billion. The acquisition shows that the software giant is aggressively strengthening its customer service business to counter challenges from startups such as Sierra. In September of this year, Salesforce had just completed its acquisition of AI customer service provider Fin for $3.6 billion. Cresta began as a project at Stanford University's Artificial Intelligence Lab and was co-founded in 2017 by computer scientist Sebastian Thrun, who pioneered multiple AI projects at Google, along with Tim Shi and Zayd Enam. The company reached a valuation of $1.6 billion after completing its Series C funding round in 2022, but its most recent valuation is not known. According to PitchBook data, Cresta has raised more than $280 million from investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, and Tiger Global.