Sendicate, a startup aiming to make it easy for businesses to create beautiful email newsletters, is moving out of beta testing today with the launch of version 1.0. In addition to removing the beta label, the company is launching an API, so that other products can integrate with the Sendicate service.
When the company launched its open beta in November, it was pitched as an attempt to reinvent email newsletters for the present day without being weighed down by legacy technology. In advance of today’s launch, co-founder and CEO Chad Jackson also said that Sendicate is an attempt to meet the needs of publishers, marketers and e-commerce sites that want something more than a generic email service but can’t afford an expensive enterprise product.
“There’s really nothing in the middle,” Jackson said. “If you have 100,000-plus customers, you’re stuck with the same tools as someone running a list with five people. … [With] the really enterprise level tools, you can’t even create an account with them. If you say, ‘Hey I want to send 50,000 emails,’ they won’t even talk to you.”
You can see Sendicate in-action in the video below. One of the main points being emphasized is the ability to try out your newsletter with a wide range of customizable design templates, with the content being tweaked to match each template. It also has a slick, simple interface for managing your messages and subscribers. As for pricing, there’s a self-serve option that’s free for customers with fewer than 500 subscribers, with an increasing monthly fee that reaches $499 for more than 75,000 subscribers. And Jackson said Sendicate is also launching a concierge/managed version, which will include “dedicated account management, design and strategic services, template production, results optimization, custom integrations, etc.”
And now, thanks to the API, customers can use Sendicate with other services. So far, the API has been used to build integrations with mobile guestbook Guest’d , web automation service Zapier, and e-commerce service Magento (in the form of a Magento plug-in). I’ve been told to point potential partners to this Ruby gem which is supposed to help with API integration.
Even in the beta period, the company says that it sent more than 10 million emails from more than 2,000 customers, and that in March, email volume went up 40 percent while revenue went up 50 percent. (Those customers include Bobbi Brown / Estee Lauder, LiveIntent, Gyft, Focus Forward, and A Hotel Life.) Jackson also pointed out that Sendicate was an honoree in the Webby Awards – specifically the web services and applications category.
Sendicate is also announcing that it has brought on Evan Whalen as CTO and co-founder.