Dropbox has purchased Mailbox, a popular e-mail app, according to blog posts from both of the companies. This is the second major step for the company already this year. Last month we saw the initial signs that Dropbox would move toward offering an IPO, perhaps later this year.
The Mailbox app is designed to connect iPhones and iPod Touch devices to Gmail, and the company said in its post that it needs Dropbox’s assistance in helping it grow. The company said it wants to increase the number of e-mail providers it supports and also create apps for additional devices, and with Dropbox’s help, it will be able to do so.
Mailbox was launched in February, and it didn’t take long for the app to have a waiting list of people who wanted to sign up for it. The company said its service capacity has grown 2,000 times, and it’s delivering more than 60 million e-mails every day. In addition, it said that its current team of 14 members needs so help to take the business to the next level.
In Dropbox’s blog, the company drew a comparison between its services and those of Mailbox.
“Dropbox doesn’t replace your folders or your hard drive: it makes them better,” the company wrote. “The same is true with Mailbox. It doesn’t replace your email: it makes it better.”
The company also said that it was looking forward to improving upon Mailbox and “getting it into as many people’s hands as possible.”
Both companies assure users that Mailbox’s services aren’t going away and that Dropbox will work to improve upon the system the company already has in place.
