Microsoft Acquires Email Startup Acompli for More Mobile Cross-Platform Expansion
Microsoft continues to open up to Apple and Google mobile platforms, with the most recent move in this direction being its acquisition of the iPhone email app -- and Latino-founded startup -- Acompli.
As we've previously reported, Microsoft's new CEO Satya Nadella has been all about cross-compatibility since the beginning of his reign at Microsoft, opening up the company's software offerings like Office beyond its closed -- some might call self-defeating hermetic -- walls.
The latest in the series of Nadella's moves to reach iPhone and Android users is the acquisition of email app and startup Acompli, announced late Monday (via TheVerge).
Acompli -- which happens to be the brainchild of Puerto Rican-born founder and CEO Javier Soltero -- is a mobile app for iOS and Android that integrates Microsoft email services like Exchange and Outlook, along with Microsoft cloud-based services like Office 365 and OneDrive, into one app. The cross-platform app also supports cloud integration and email from Google Drive, Dropbox, Gmail, iCloud, Yahoo, Hotmail and others.
Microsoft was obviously impressed with the young startup, officially launched only in April of this year. In the announcement, VP of Office 365 and Outlook Rajesh Jha wrote:
"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."
Details of the deal were not disclosed, but Acompli's Soltero -- who came up in the late '90s tech industry working for Netscape after graduating from Carnegie Mellon University -- is obviously pleased about the direction Microsoft is planning to go with his app.
In a blog post discussing the acquisition, Soltero stated that the team-up "will help us take the vision of Acompli to hundreds of millions of mobile users across the world," while allowing him and his team to stay "committed to the original Acompli vision of making the best mobile email application on any platform and across all services."