June.ai seems to be attacking the inbox with $ 1.5 million – TechCrunch

Email continues to be a tempting target for entrepreneurs. After all, email is almost ubiquitous and yet, almost nobody likes the experience of using it.

June.ai joined today a long list of startups who were looking to change the way we use e-mail, but the latter company takes a different approach.

Co-Founder and CEO Allie Sutton said the team did not look at how people use e-mail as a starting point, but rather how they manage communication and the flow of information . This then led June to create a platform that does not necessarily replace email, but is rather backwards compatible with email services.

Here's how it works:

First and foremost, June recognizes the difference between an email conversation with another person and an email from a brand, platform, and so on. June separates these conversations into two separate inboxes. For information emails, such as "Your Amazon Order Was Shipped" and "Registering Your Flight," June placed these messages in an easy-to-navigate feed.

Communication-based messages, on the other hand, are organized in an inbox that looks much more like an IMessage or IM interface than an email interface. Conversations are also organized by people and not by thread or subject, which allows users to have a clear picture of the full history of their conversations with a person without worrying about certain threads. As a member of this person-based organization, June also organizes files based on their recipient.

Another June feature is "gatekeeper", allowing users to unsubscribe, approve or block new businesses or people sending emails to them quickly.

With $ 1.5 million in funding, June is not immediately concerned with revenues, but rather seeks to promote the platform and promote adoption.

June works with several of the largest email providers, including Gmail, Yahoo !, and Outlook.

Sutton said that adoption would be the biggest challenge.

"People have built the way they handle emails," Sutton said. "Some years and other decades. We have developed a more efficient way to process this information, but giving users enough explanation and information to adopt this new way of gathering and delivering information is our biggest challenge. . We must prove that it is more effective for them. "