Less than a year after expanding, an Austin startup is shutting down.
As , 鈥� picks up its customers鈥� mail, scans it, and makes it available online. 鈥� Outbox workers open and scan letters, catalogs and flyers. Customers log in to Outbox鈥檚 website to see their 鈥� now-digital 鈥� mail.鈥�
At the time, Outbox had expanded its operations into California after testing its service in Austin. But citing a litany of issues impacting its service, it was ceasing operations.
In a letter announcing the decision, founders Will Davis and Evan Baehr write 鈥渢here wasn鈥檛 enough demand to support the cost model.鈥� Those costs included a fleet of 鈥渦npostmen鈥� that would pick up, sort and scan subscribers鈥� mail.
The letter continues:
鈥淚n the end, we serviced a little over 2,000 individual customers, had 25,000 people waiting around the country on our waiting list, unsubscribed our customers from over 1 million senders of mail, scanned over聽1.5聽million pages, and delivered over 250,000 requested mail packages. We also recycled approximately 30 tons of paper, enough to cover 86 football fields.鈥�
Current Outbox subscribers can learn what the company鈥檚 closing means .
Davis and Baehr say their Outbox experience is informing a new, as yet unannounced, project 鈥� one 鈥渢hat has already shown signs of success, and we believe it has the opportunity to be massively disruptive. 鈥�
