A long commute inspired this former Google Gmail designer to start a profitable email startup with $13.6 million in funding

• A former Gmail designer left Google to start his own company, Mixmax, with friends from another startup.
• Mixmax charges $US9/month for access to email-enhancing tools, including tracking, in-emails polls, and easier meeting scheduling.
• Mixmax has raised $US10.4 million in a Series A funding round, with an eye towards expanding hiring. It’s already profitable.
• Two of the founders are bilingual immigrants, a commonality that they say first sparked their interest in how people communicate with each other.

If Chanpory Rith learned one thing during his time at Google, it’s that email isn’t dead. Now, he’s at the helm of Mixmax, a small, but profitable, company that’s trying to prove it.

In 2011, Rith was leading the design the Gmail app for iOS. His team wanted to measure if people how often people were using Gmail. Unsurprisingly, they found college students didn’t really use email much. But when they graduated and entered the workforce, their email use skyrocketed.

That gave him an idea: What if he could make using email at work easier? That idea eventually led to the creation in 2014 of Mixmax, a small company co-founded by Rith, that makes handy tools to improve Gmail – including the ability to track emails, schedule when emails are sent, make in-email polls, and schedule meetings with one click. Read more

Rachel Sandler - Business Insider Australia - 28 Feb 2018