SAN FRANCISCO, June 7, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- TRAILHEADX — Salesforce [NYSE: CRM], the Customer Success Platform and world's #1 CRM company, today announced new Lightning innovations and investments to further democratize app development and empower a new generation of developers. With more than 200 new Lightning innovations in the company's Summer '16 product release—ranging from new coding tools to visual development experiences—Salesforce is accelerating app development and boosting productivity for every type of developer. New Trailhead Superbadges expand the company's interactive training environment to enable developers to acquire and master in-demand career-building skills. And Salesforce continues to invest in the success of its developer ecosystem with a new Lightning Fund and incubator. The company will showcase these innovations and more at TrailheaDX, Salesforce's new developer conference designed for anyone to learn new skills and unlock new opportunities building on the Customer Success Platform.

Developer Success and Diversity Fuels Salesforce Developer Ecosystem Growth
As the demand for social, mobile, connected and intelligent apps exceeds the supply of traditional developers available to create them, companies are democratizing app development with Salesforce. More than 2.8 million Trailblazers, Salesforce's passionate community of developers, have already built more than 5.5 million apps and helped to create the world's largest business app store, the Salesforce AppExchange. Trailblazers range from expert programmers to low-code and no-code developers, such as admins, business analysts and even business users. With Lightning they can work together, across startups and Fortune 100 companies alike, applying their entrepreneurial spirit and business-savvy to drive customer success.

Let There Be Lightning!—Now Anyone Can Build and Customize Modern Apps
Lightning creates a new continuum for app development, enabling companies to harness all the experts across their organization—from coders and admins to business analysts and power users—to deliver social, mobile, connected and intelligent apps.

• Developers use the Lightning Component Framework to build custom components—reusable pieces of functionality that form the building blocks for apps—using industry standard HTML, CSS, JavaScript and other web-enabled code. Summer '16 accelerates component development with new development tools such as Lightning LockerService, Lightning Inspector and Lightning CLI.
• The Lightning App Builder empowers anyone to mix and match their company's custom components with standard components built by Salesforce, third-party developers, partners or even other Salesforce customers—all available on the AppExchange—to create and customize app pages visually, without code. New tools available in Summer '16 include the capability to create and edit Lightning Record Pages, customize Home Pages for different user profiles and assign filters to a report chart component,
• With Lightning's component-based architecture, apps no longer need to be built entirely from scratch. Pages and components are brought together with drag and drop functionality, making it easier than ever to build any kind of app and accelerating every company's ability to drive digital transformation.

Introducing Trailhead Superbadges—Now Anyone Can Become a Master of Lucrative Salesforce Skills
Trailhead is a free online learning environment where anyone can develop Salesforce skills through an interactive, gamified experience. There are learning modules and guided trails for every skill level, where users test their knowledge and build new skills through a series of challenges, earning badges that can be instantly posted to their LinkedIn profile. Since Trailhead launched in 2014, Trailblazers have earned more than 735,000 badges by completing more than 3 million challenges. And today, Salesforce continues to reinvent the resume with new Trailhead Superbadges, skills-based credentials awarded for solving real-world business challenges, such as scaling the infrastructure of a growing business, automating sales and customer service processes and engaging with customers using mobile apps. Superbadges in Lightning Experience, Apex, Reports & Dashboards and Security are available immediately, with additional Superbadges to follow.

Superbadges enable businesses and learners alike to skill up for new opportunities in the digital economy, fueled by the demand for cloud, social, mobile and intelligent apps. Salesforce skills are amongst the most in-demand in the industry. And by 2018, Salesforce and its ecosystem of customers and partners are expected to create 1 million jobs and generate $272 billion in GDP impact worldwide.

Salesforce Ventures Fuels Lightning Innovation With New $50 Million Lightning Fund
Salesforce Ventures—Salesforce's corporate investment group—has invested in more than 150 enterprise cloud startups in 14 countries. Today, Salesforce Ventures is announcing a new $50 million Lightning Fund designated for investing in trailblazing entrepreneurs who are building transformative Lightning apps and components that extend the power of Salesforce for customers. Fast-growing companies including FinancialForce, Kenandy and nCino are already building on Salesforce Lightning. Bessemer Venture Partners, Cloud Apps Capital Partners, Emergence Capital, Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, and Lightspeed Venture Partners will partner with Salesforce Ventures to identify opportunities to jointly invest in these innovative startups.

Introducing a New Salesforce Incubator for Cloud Startups and Consulting Firms
Salesforce for Startups is a global program designed to provide startups with access to the technology, resources and expertise needed to become thriving customer and community-focused companies. It has helped more than 5,500 entrepreneurs in 130 countries build and grow their businesses and give back to their communities. To accelerate the development of promising startups, Salesforce is announcing an incubator for early-stage companies leveraging Salesforce Lightning to deliver innovative solutions for their customers. The incubator will provide a collaborative physical space within Salesforce offices that gives startups and services companies exclusive access to Salesforce technology and mentorship. The incubator will open in the Bay Area by the end of 2016. Read this blog post for more detail.

The Salesforce Developer Community Gathers for TrailheaDX -- Two Days of Inspiration, Learning, Fun and Giving Back
TrailheaDX, Salesforce's new developer conference, will take place June 7-8 in San Francisco, with more than 130 viewing parties scheduled across 24 countries. The sold-out event is a celebration of the diversity, inclusion and equality that are core values of the Salesforce developer experience. TrailheaDX will empower a new generation of developers to create social, mobile, connected and intelligent apps that are helping companies connect to their customers in entirely new ways. The event will feature:

• Visionary keynotes from Salesforce Chairman and CEO Marc Benioff, Salesforce co-founder Parker Harris and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.
• More than 50 technical hands-on developer sessions for every type of focus and expertise, including sessions on Lightning, mobile app development, process automation, security, data science, integration, bot building, IoT, artificial intelligence and more.
• Partner expo showcasing cutting-edge developer innovations from Amazon Web Services, Box, Gearset, Jitterbit, Microsoft, Pluralsight, Slack and more.
• Volunteer activities encouraging all attendees to teach their coding skills to local students from Mission Bit and the San Francisco Unified School District.
• Ten percent of full TrailheaDX conference passes have been given for free to underrepresented communities supported by non-profit organizations including Blacks in Technology, CODE2040, Girl Develop It, JVS, Lesbians Who Tech, Manos Accelerator, RAD Women, StrideForce and VetForce.

Additional Information

• Register for the TrailheaDX Live broadcast at https://www.salesforce.com/form/event/trailheadx.jsp
• Find the TrailheaDX viewing party nearest you at https://developer.salesforce.com/trailheadx/virtual
• Learn more about Salesforce Trailhead and Superbadges at https://developer.salesforce.com/trailhead/superbadges-overview
• Learn more about Salesforce Ventures at http://www.salesforce.com/ventures
• Learn more about Salesforce for Startups at https://startups.salesforce.com/

Pricing and Availability

• The latest Lightning innovations are available in Salesforce's Summer '16 product release and included in Lightning Sales, Lightning Service and Force Admin licenses.
• Trailhead Superbadges are generally available to anyone for free by visiting http://trailhead.salesforce.com. Visitors can view all training content without logging in. To track progress, complete challenges and earn points and badges, users must obtain a Trailhead login by signing up for a free Salesforce Developer Edition, available at: https://developer.salesforce.com/trailhead/signup?d=70130000000iMGP

Connect with Salesforce

• Like Salesforce on Facebook: http://facebook.com/salesforce
• Like Salesforce Devs on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/salesforcedevs/
• Follow @Salesforce, @SalesforceDevs, @SalesforceVC and @SalesforceStart on Twitter

About Salesforce
Salesforce, the Customer Success Platform and world's #1 CRM company, empowers companies to connect with their customers in a whole new way. For more information about Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), visit: www.salesforce.com.

Any unreleased services or features referenced in this or other press releases or public statements are not currently available and may not be delivered on time or at all. Customers who purchase Salesforce applications should make their purchase decisions based upon features that are currently available. Salesforce has headquarters in San Francisco, with offices in Europe and Asia, and trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "CRM." For more information please visit http://www.salesforce.com, or call 1-800- NO-SOFTWARE.

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