Rebelmail

Rebelmail, later renamed Rebel, developed technology that turned marketing emails into interactive experiences. Rather than redirecting recipients to a website, its product embedded form fields, product galleries, quizzes, surveys, appointment booking, review collection and checkout directly inside the email message, positioning the inbox as an extension of a brand's website or app. The company described its aim as powering secure interactivity inside emails for e-commerce and SaaS companies, with its first product enabling one-click checkout inside emails for e-commerce retailers.

The company offered both a Mail product and an API-based solution. In June 2017 it rebranded from Rebelmail to Rebel and launched Rebel Shop, which allowed consumers to complete a purchase from within an email; the flow relied on payment credentials previously stored with the retailer or with another retailer in the Rebel network, so card details were not entered in the message itself, and the company said its payment system was PCI compliant. Co-founder Joe Teplow framed email as "the last owned channel" for retailers and said the company's ambitions extended beyond email to other customer-facing channels. In October 2018, Salesforce agreed to acquire Rebel to strengthen its Marketing Cloud, with Rebel's services to be integrated into that platform; terms were not disclosed.

Founding story

Co-founders Joe Teplow and Trever Faden, who had participated in the Y Combinator accelerator program, developed the concept together. Teplow had previously run a not-for-profit email project in which subscribers donated 25 cents a day to a choice of charities; it grew from about ten friends to more than 300 subscribers and donated more than $30,000 in a year, with roughly 75% daily open rates and 65% click rates, which drew Teplow to email as an interface. Faden had built a project that embedded form fields in email; after receiving one such message, Teplow mocked up a J. Crew campaign with a form field and instant checkout, and the pair then tested interactive emails with small e-commerce companies before raising outside capital.

Business model

Rebel sold interactive email technology to businesses, offering Mail and API products that brands and their email service providers used to add interactive and transactional capabilities to marketing campaigns. Following the 2018 seed round, the company said it would use the capital to expand its enterprise offerings.

Traction

The company worked with large brands including Home Depot, eBay, WeWork and Diane von Furstenberg, and cited Dollar Shave Club, L'Oreal and HelloFresh among brands using its Mail and API solutions. One customer reported a 55% increase in customer reviews after using the product. Total disclosed funding was about $3 million as of the 2018 acquisition.

Latest developments

On October 5, 2018, Salesforce agreed to acquire Rebel, with the team joining Salesforce Marketing Cloud and Rebel's API-based services to be integrated into the platform. Deal terms were not disclosed.