Today’s sustainability landscape offers a powerful opportunity for fresh thinking and inclusive collaboration. Recognizing this, Salesforce, the World Economic Forum (WEF), and Deloitte came together to co-found UpLink, a global initiative that identifies and accelerates innovative solutions aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Over the past five years, UpLink has evolved into a vibrant global ecosystem — connecting early-stage innovators with the resources, expertise, and networks they need to expand their real-world impact. It’s an initiative Salesforce is proud to champion.
“UpLink’s mandate is to identify, support, and grow those who are building profitable businesses that are addressing the very problems that Salesforce holds as its values,” said Steve Schwartz, Salesforce director and UpLink fellow.
An innovation engine for impact
UpLink isn’t just a digital tool — it’s an open innovation engine that activates global problem-solvers. Through curated innovation challenges, entrepreneurs and changemakers are encouraged to apply with solutions aligned to the SDGs. These challenges are shaped in collaboration with experts and partners to spotlight areas where innovation can deliver lasting, measurable progress.
Applicants submit breakthrough solutions, and those selected as Top Innovators receive tailored support to grow their impact. This includes access to a robust ecosystem of partners — investors, city leaders, and mentors — who help accelerate their journey from early-stage idea to scalable, real-world solution.
To date, UpLink has launched more than 60 challenges, supported more than 500 early-stage ventures across 75 countries, and contributed to the creation of over 19,000 jobs globally. Beyond employment, it has enabled tangible environmental and social outcomes — protecting over 140 million hectares of natural habitat, treating 2.5 billion liters of wastewater, and advancing circular economy practices such as the collection of over 142,400 metric tons of waste.
Pioneering approach to local impact: The Yes San Francisco model
In 2023, UpLink launched its first location-based innovation challenge: Yes San Francisco (Yes SF). Based in Salesforce’s hometown of San Francisco, the goal was simple: Bring bold sustainability solutions to the city and scale local innovations globally.
Backed by Salesforce, Deloitte, Citi, and the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce — and with support from the City of San Francisco — the inaugural challenge championed 14 promising ventures focused on urban sustainability and green jobs. One standout, It’s Electric, cut its typical city deployment time from over a year to just five months, thanks to fast-tracked support from the San Francisco Environment Department.
“It was our chance to test if place-based challenges could accelerate deployment,” Schwartz said. “And the answer was yes — resoundingly.”
The program’s success sparked a broader Yes Cities strategy, with plans to replicate the model globally. During San Francisco Climate Week 2025, Yes SF named a second cohort of 12 top innovators selected from more than 200 applicants — many leveraging AI to solve urban sustainability challenges. Five nonprofit startups also joined, supported by new grants and expanded resources.
With more than 40 ventures now active, Yes SF is proving that local innovation can create global impact. Leaders like Hydra Mendoza, Salesforce’s vice president of strategic relationships in the Office of the Chair and CEO, have played a key role in aligning corporate resources with local priorities — ensuring entrepreneurs are empowered to build what their communities need most.
“Yes SF is a powerful example of what’s possible when the corporate community and civic leaders unite around visionary entrepreneurs that are building on the city’s foundation of sustainable innovation,” Mendoza said. “As a founding partner, Salesforce is proud to help foster a new generation of ecopreneurs who are using cutting-edge technology to deliver sustainable impact right here in San Francisco and beyond.”
From supporter to strategic driver
As a founding partner, Salesforce has been central to UpLink’s growth — not just at launch, but in how innovation is identified, supported, and scaled.
- Backing early-stage ventures: Salesforce has supported dozens of challenges, from nature-based solutions for carbon markets to sustainable aviation fuel innovations—alongside Yes SF.
- Spotlighting innovation: UpLink Top Innovators have taken center stage at Dreamforce’s Dreampitch competition and the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos.
- Doing business and doing good: A standout success: Epic Cleantech, an UpLink alum, now filters 100% of the blackwater in Salesforce Tower—embedding innovation into Salesforce’s infrastructure.
- Launchpad access: Through Salesforce Launchpad, UpLink innovators receive early access to tools and go-to-market support. “It’s coming at the right time,” Schwartz said. “Execution infrastructure is just as critical as the idea.”
- Scalable tech: UpLink and the Forum are using Salesforce technologies to power the world’s most mission-critical engagements.
- Embedded leadership: As a Salesforce Fellow, Schwartz has spent two years embedded at the World Economic Forum, a rare secondment that reflects the company’s hands-on approach and commitment to its values.
Building an ecosystem of collaboration
Innovation thrives in connection, and UpLink is helping build the community that makes it possible. “We’re seeing more partnerships and even joint go-to-market strategies forming within the UpLink network itself,” said Schwartz. “This is what ecosystem building looks like — solutions that reinforce and accelerate each other.”
The Yes SF headquarters, a downtown space supported by the Chamber of Commerce, now serves as a co-working hub, café, and convening ground for civic and startup leaders. As relationships deepen, innovators are collaborating across cohorts — sharing data, aligning deployments, and entering new markets together.
Looking ahead: The role of agentic AI
Agentic AI is here — and it’s already changing the way innovators design, measure, and scale solutions, offering game-changing potential for UpLink’s mission.
The alignment is clear: using advanced, responsible, and trustworthy AI to drive scalable impact.
“We’ve had AI-powered solutions in UpLink from the start,” Schwartz noted. “What’s changed is the vocabulary — and the comfort level with these tools. As they become more accessible, they’ll take a front seat in how we design, measure, and deploy impact at scale.”
Agentic AI could accelerate UpLink’s work by:
- Speeding solution development through autonomous prototyping and research.
- Improving impact measurement with real-time data.
- Enhancing collaboration by intelligently matching innovators with stakeholders.
- Tackling complex, system-level challenges with adaptive solutions.
A catalyst for the future
In a world seeking scalable, sustainable solutions, UpLink is more than an initiative — it’s a blueprint for impact. Now marking its five-year anniversary, it has proven that with bold ideas, shared infrastructure, and deep collaboration, meaningful change is possible.
“There have been people working on these problems for a long time,” said Schwartz. “What UpLink offers is a system to help them go further, faster — and with real support behind them.”
