ZeroMail, an Australian startup which aims to de-clutter user’s email inboxes, has launched a paid beta program offering a lifetime subscription for just $100.
ZeroMail launches paid beta (Credit: ZeroMail.com)
ZeroMail was formed last year, with the aim of allowing users to focus on the important emails and filter out the less important ones, sich as newsletters and group notifications. It hooks into already existing email accounts through providers such as Gmail, with the ultimate goal of making “email fun again.”
While the offer — which only stands for the first 100 people to sign-up — may seem a little rich considering the service is still being developed, for those keen to trial the tool it provides a unique way to gain pre-launch entry to the service.
If all 100 spots are taken, it’ll also provide a $10,000 financial boost for Bart Jellema and Katrin Suess, the two co-founders of the startup who have both been working on the project ful-time since January, which will assist them to “speed up” the process of development.
“There are many free email services out there, but none of them fixes the problem of information overload. The average information worker spends 13 hours per week dealing with their emails, because their inboxes are cluttered with newsletters, notifications and group posts,” Katrin Suess told iTech Report.
“We believe that only a personalized service is able to handle today’s email overload and manage email communication in the most effective way. No algorithm will ever be as good as a real person.”
The first 20 spots — which offered a T-shirt as well as entry to the beta — have now been filled, but Suess says the 100 registration mark is still yet to be met.
“Considering it’s only a beta and we didn’t give people a trial we feel that this clearly shows how big of a problem email is for people,” Suess said.
It emerged earlier this year that the pair were on the look-out for developers based in Australia who would be keen to work on the project, but weren’t having much success. Suess says they’ve now decided to instead get funding and hire developers to work full-time on ZeroMail.
ZeroMail is expected to launch to everyone later this year, possible around August or September Suess said, with most functionality already implemented in the service. Before launch however they hope to have a number of other features including a “simple integrated task and calendar system” implemented.
