Microsoft acquires startup email Accompli
02 Dec 2014
Microsoft has acquired Acompli, a mobile email app startup, in a bid to support all platforms with its software.
The Acompli team of around two dozen would be joining Microsoft as a part of $200 million plus all-cash deal.
After the acquisition, Acompli's technology, will be incorporated into Microsoft's mail technology.
"18 months ago we started building a team and a product around the idea that we could make mobile email better," an Acompli blog post announcing its acquisition said. "Today that journey continues as part of a larger organization with the technology, talent, and market reach that will help us take the vision of Acompli to hundreds of millions of mobile users across the world."
Interestingly, support for competing email services in the Acompli app would continue. The app currently supported Gmail and Google apps, Exchange, iCloud and Yahoo.
At Microsoft, Acompli would work within the organisation and would also function as an independent group building out email products for iOS and Android.
"We're excited about what's possible as we build on the app's success and bring it together with work currently in progress by the Outlook team. Our goal is to deliver fantastic cross-platform apps that support the variety of email services people use today and help them accomplish more," wrote Rajesh Jha, corporate vice president, Outlook and Office 365, in a blog post announcing the deal.
Meanwhile, AFP reported that the deal gave Microsoft a startup helping people more easily manage their mail on handsets using Google Android or Apple iOS operating systems.
"In a world where more than half of email messages are first read on a mobile device, it's essential to give people fantastic email experiences wherever they go," Jha said in the post.
"The Accompli team is passionate about this quest. Their app provides innovative ways to focus on what's important in your inbox, to schedule meetings, and work with attachments and files."
Accompli's Javier Soltero said on his blog that the app "will become part of Microsoft's ambitious effort to reimagine productivity for the mobile era."
