When you email someone, you don’t worry about what network they’re on, whether they have other email addresses, the domain [the part after @] the address is in, or even whether you’re reaching the person you want to.
When you want to receive email from someone, you just give them your email address. You can have one inbox or many. You can have different newsletters and notifications go wherever you want. You can search for old emails. You can reply later, if you want, and trust that the message was actually delivered.
It’s the most reliable, simple communication mechanism we have for everything.
But there’s been no such thing in Web3. Communication is a fractured experience. We use telegram, signal, discord, twitter, email, custom project-created web interfaces, and a dozen other channels. If you participate in Web3 in any meaningful way, it’s impossible to know that you’re getting the messages you want when you want. And for people who want you to get a message, they have no idea if their words ever make it to you.
The team at Mailchain began solving this problem in the open in 2019, aiming to build a multi-chain and multi-wallet protocol for secure delivery of messages—roughly analogous to SMTP. The experience for end users should be as simple as email, but with both more security and more individual control. While the experience for protocols, exchanges, DAOs, and other Web3 projects should be as simple as “send a note to every wallet holding more than 1% of token_x” or “when this smart_contract_y triggers under conditions_z, send a message to all wallets on the receiving side of the transaction”.
It’s been a sometimes rocky road to figure out how to get the right balance of good UX, robust security, and maximal data control for the user. Mailchain is pushing forward the state of the art every day. We believe that the protocol, platform, and products they are building will become indispensable to how all of us interact in Web3.
To that end, we’re super excited to announce that we have led Mailchain’s $4.6 million Seed round alongside Kenetic Capital, and other participants Kestrel0x1, Acequia Capital, Eterna Capital, Charles Songhurst, Sarah Drinkwater, Nick Ducoff, and Maex Ament.
Claim your Mailchain handle today! 💌⛓️
—Scott Sage and Aneel Lakhani