Cambridge-based Cannonball launched a new iPad app this morning that can overcome the obstacle of email overload. Rather than dreading opening up our overflowing inboxes each day, Cannonball wants users to “Fall in love with email again.” With $600,000 in seed funding to their name, the Cannonball team seems to be on the right track, as their new app hits the App Store.
Cannonball sorts a user’s inbox, drawing distinctions between important communication such as emails from friends and family and e-receipts, from less pressing messages, like newsletters, retail offers and daily deals. Recognizing the two radically different forms of content, the app delivers personal correspondence and leisure email in separate ways.
“We reached a conclusion that at first seemed counter-intuitive,” said Jim Caralis, cofounder of Cannonball, in the startup’s statement. “But it turns out the best way to organize the inbox is to organize it the same way we all do our normal mail every day. That is, one pile of important mail, another pile of coupons, catalogs, etc., and the rest in the trash.”
While important messages appear as text messages–similar to your standard email inbox–leisure email is displayed in a highly-visual way, grouping messages by sender and whether or not there is an attachment. Messages can also be marked read or unread, so users never have to worry about missing out on mail.
“Today’s offerings focus on the mythical goal of ‘Inbox Zero,’ rather than focusing on how email could be engaging and enjoyable,” added Raffaele Colella, another one of Cannonball’s founders. “Our personal inboxes have become a mess of messages with no sense of control and we want to change that. Cannonball’s mission is to make the inbox not only less cluttered, but also visually appealing so that users really do fall in love with email again.”
Started in 2012 at Dogpatch Labs, Cannonball is lead by cofounders Jim Caralis, Raffaele Colella, and Thibault Le Conte. The startup has received backing from angel investors including Prof Ed Roberts, founder of the MIT Entrepreneurship Center, Alessandro Piol, an investor at Alpha Prime and author of “Tech and the City”, and Amedeo Giurazza, an investor at Vertis and Nobel Laureate Robert C Merton.
Check out the video below to learn more:
