Microsoft acquires Email app Acompli for $200 million
Microsoft has acquired Acompli, an email app startup focused on surfacing your important mails. The rumours of the acquisition have been doing the rounds for a few days now, but it’s finally official today.
Microsoft will be integrating and keeping the Acompli app on the Android and iOS app stores, and Acompli promises to continue updating it like always. Even otherwise, the acquisition fits in well with the recent decisions Microsoft has been making – it made OneDrive cheaper and better, brought the Office to iOS and Android, and its revamped email service has been something I’ve been using for managing my work email.
The deal looks like an acqui-hire. Microsoft’s VP, Office and Outlook 365, Sanjay Jha, said in an announcement –
This acquisition is part of our company-wide effort to help people accomplish more with their mobile devices. This year we brought Office to the iPad and the iPhone, and we recently announced that we’re bringing Office to Android devices. These are significant steps in our work to deliver the best productivity experiences across mobile platforms, and we’re continuing to push forward.
This acquisition brings us an app with innovative technology and a set of talented people who are passionate about reinventing email and communications on mobile screens. It will expedite our work to deliver the full power of Office to mobile devices.
I have not really taken to these smart email apps, mostly because I like my email the way it already is. My inbox is always clean, clutter free. However Inbox by Google, Mailbox by Dropbox and half a dozen other similar, popular email apps already exist, proving that there’s certainly a demand for apps of this kind. Microsoft has been missing on the action in this area, so it will be interesting to see what they make of Acompli going forward.
Acompli on Play Store | App Store
