Microsoft has acquired email startup Acompli for $200 million in a move to significantly improve email and visual updates for Microsoft's Outlook email service.

Acompli has offered its services to upward of 100,000 users on iOS and Android. The exact numbers were not given, but it is unlikely Acompli was as popular as other mail services like Gmail and Mailbox.

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The app is able to tie together mail and calendar quite well, and offers a visual interface similar to Mailbox. The integration of various email accounts - Gmail, Yahoo, Exchange and iCloud - has given users a lot of choice.

"18 months ago we started building a team and a product around the idea that we could make mobile email better," said CEO Javier Soltero in a blog post. "Today that journey continues as part of a larger organization with the technology, talent, and market reach that will help us take the vision of Acompli to hundreds of millions of mobile users across the world."

Microsoft's corporate vice president of Outlook and Office 365, Rajesh Jha, said "This acquisition is part of our company-wide effort to help people accomplish more with their mobile devices."

The Acompli team will continue to actively work on the app for iOS and Android, though part of the team will start working on Office 365 and Outlook jobs - porting both applications onto iOS and ensuring timely updates.

It is unclear whether Microsoft wants to add Acompli's tech onto Outlook or the other way around. Outlook has become a household name and Exchange is also in need of some work, which could come from the team at Acompli.

Acompli has been marveled as the perfect app for BYOD users, something Microsoft wants to hear. The current move into enterprise has opened up new opportunities for Microsoft - beefing up its email service could give IBM's Verse trouble.

TagsAcompli, email service, email, Acquisition