Zumbox
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
Zumbox was a Los Angeles-based startup building a hybrid postal mail service for receiving paper mail via the web. A digital mailbox - a 'Zumbox' - would be created for every street address in the United States, and residents could claim theirs with a paper-mail confirmation code to receive bills and statements digitally. The service complied with PCI, BITS, and HIPAA security rules, and Zumbox also partnered in Digital Post Australia, a joint venture with Computershare and Fuji Xerox.
02 / Zumbox FAILURE REASONS
Failure reasons
After seven years and more than $30 million in venture capital, including backing from Michael Eisner, Zumbox could not attract enough consumers or senders to reach critical mass. Its 'free forever' service and a $1 million prize draw still failed to win widespread adoption, while corporate senders preferred building their own digital communication platforms over committing to Zumbox's channel. The company concluded that the time and cost required to deliver on its vision exceeded what the market was prepared to invest, and its Australian joint venture closed the same year.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Founded
Zumbox was founded in Los Angeles to create a digital mailbox for every U.S. street address, working in parallel to traditional postal services.
- Public debut
The company's vision drew national attention in the Wall Street Journal and CNET, which described a future where every American home had a digital in-box for its postal mail.
- Australian joint venture
Zumbox partnered with Computershare and Fuji Xerox in Digital Post Australia, a consortium aiming to give Australians a secure digital address for holdings, bank statements, and bills.
- Shutdown
In April 2014 Zumbox announced it was shutting down after seven years, saying it lacked sufficient investor interest to launch as a national brand; users were asked to export their stored documents by April 14. Digital Post Australia also closed in mid-2014.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN
How the factors connect
- 01
Zumbox raised more than $30 million in venture capital, with investors including former Disney CEO Michael Eisner.
- 02
In April 2014 the company announced its shutdown, telling account holders of its 'free, forever' digital postal mail service to remove their stored documents by April 14.
- 03
Its Australian joint venture Digital Post Australia also shut down in mid-2014, after attracting only about 1,000 corporate clients and 12,000 consumers.