The pandemic has made people cautious about their future. While entrepreneurship is a risky business even in the best of times, many entrepreneurs have started new companies in the last year despite the challenges.
Entrepreneur Aquibur Rahman always wanted to do something of his own. The IIT-IIM graduate worked with a few startups like ClearTax and CarDekho before starting his entrepreneurial journey with Mailmodo in 2020. The other co-founders of the Bengaluru-headquartered startup are Apurv Gupta and Devyesh Tandon.
“During my time researching for ideas, I came across Google’s AMP email platform, and this excited me as there was a huge potential in this segment,” says Aquibur.
The software as a service (SaaS) technology startup has lined up an ambitious plan ahead.
Dynamism of AMP email
AMP email is a framework created by Google in 2019 that makes this form of communication much more dynamic and provides an option to add forms and APIs inside emails.
According to Aquibur, the world of internet has dynamically evolved from just static pages to interactive experiences where user interaction has been key to every internet business. But this has not been the case with emails where it has remained a simple one-way communication lacking the dynamic element to engage with the users.
The AMP email framework of Google allows to bring in elements like shopping carts, APIs, calendars, forms, etc., making it more engaging to deal with this communication platform. “It creates a website-like experience within the email,” says Aquibur.
Aquibur, since his graduation from IIM Ahmedabad, was primarily engaged in marketing roles with various startups. He was also providing consulting services to some early-stage startups before starting Mailmodo.
He says, “For many marketers, when they send out an email, there is no control on its conversion rate, but this can be substantially increased through the AMP emails and Mailmodo platform.”
Low code SaaS
The startup realised that many of the rich features, which can be integrated into an email, could not be done by the marketers. Hence, it decided to build a no-code platform, which makes it easier for them to include what they want by using a drag and drop tool.
As a start, Mailmodo spoke about the product in its networks, where many established startups were willing to experiment with this platform. It was launched as a private beta product and the initial results were very encouraging as those who used it saw a 2x to 3x rise in the conversion of the marketing emails.
Encouraged by this response, Mailmodo made this platform available to the public. The startup claims it has found good traction from startups in segments like fintech, edtech, and ecommerce.
According to Aquibur, companies are using the platform for various activities such as lead generation, surveys, webinar registration, online shopping, job registration, etc.
“Today we are looking at the possibility where one can do online shopping through an email,” he says.
Aquibur was very clear that Mailmodo would make its product available through the SaaS model, which gives it a wider reach. It has got various models of pricing, which is dependent on the volume of business.
Funding
In the past year, Mailmodo claims to have received strong interest from the venture capital ecosystem that was keen to invest in the startup.
“Initially, we thought about bootstrapping the venture, but the interest from the VCs and founders of other startups was very strong,” says Aquibur.
Mailmodo raised its initial round of funding from entities such as Firstcheque, Titan Capital, and other angel investors. Now, this startup is also part of YCombinator and Sequoia Capital India’s Surge programme in their latest cohort.
Aquibur says, “Venture funding has helped us to hire good talent and this helps us getting our share in the market as soon as possible.”
Aquibur says, “Venture funding has helped us to hire good talent and this helps us getting our share in the market as soon as possible.”
Future plans
At present, Mailmodo has an annual revenue run rate of $120k with the majority of the clients based in India. Now, it aiming to go global, and the primary target market is the United States.
As AMP email is relatively new, this startup does not have any credible direct competition in this segment though there are some competing existing companies who provide marketing services for this web communication platform.
Mailmodo co-founders (from left): Apurv Gupta, Aquibur Rahman, and Devyesh Tandon
To expand its reach in the market, Mailmodo is looking to leverage various tools like content marketing, online channels, and educating the customers on the various benefits of AMP emails.
The startup has plans to bring further product innovations into its platform where there could be the integration of complex applications on the email, but the core focus of Mailmodo will always be to simplify the workflow of the marketers so that they can do more meaningful engagement with their potential customers through emails.
Speaking about being an entrepreneur, Aquibur says, “I always wanted to do something of my own and this is very close to my heart, though it is a very different experience.”
