The latest player in the streaming wars is a B2B software company

(Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Salesforce announced plans to launch its own streaming service, Salesforce+, in an effort to expand from traditional paid marketing to owned and operated media, per Axios.

The firm plans to debut the free, on-demand service at its annual Dreamforce event in September.

Salesforce is taking cues from Netflix…

… and boosting upfront investments. So far, those efforts include:

• Hiring ~50 editorial leads for the service
• Building an in-house studio to film and produce the content
• Producing 6 original series to debut upon launch

While Salesforce+ is expected to start with original programming, the firm eventually wants to feature content from its clients.

But don’t expect the next “Stranger Things”

Programming on the service appears to be more MasterClass than Netflix, with originals ranging in topic from professional growth to business skill development.

Salesforce isn’t the 1st B2B software company to move into owned media:

• In February, HubSpot acquired The Hustle (yours truly)
• TheSkimm is reportedly exploring a sale to a non-media company

We’ll be keeping a close eye on this trend as more companies follow suit.