EyeMail Inc.

EyeMail Inc. was founded by Lisa S. Jones in 2004 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.[8] Jones is originally from Montgomery, Alabama, and enrolled at the Alabama A&M University,[3] university from which she received BBA and MBA degrees.[9] She also studied marketing management at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.[10] Before becoming an entrepreneur, Jones worked as a logistics and supply chain expert at NASA,[8][4] eventually relocating to Atlanta to expand her career in supplier diversity for companies such as AT&T.[8][3] Jones has revealed that she founded EyeMail Inc. after the unexpected passing away of her mother,[11] making a "vow to start and scale a global company in her honor".[12]

In 2004, Jones filed her first patent focused on video in email.[13] For five years, she developed EyeMail Inc. during her spare time, as she was also working full-time as an executive in telecommunications in Atlanta.[12][11] Initially, EyeMail Inc. was turned down by a number of American development agencies, so Jones worked with several international technical teams until choosing a final partnership,[12][5] which developed the product in only six months.[12] During her development process, Jones participated in Microsoft's Mentor/Protégé Innovation Lab Program, which "provided more support and expertise",[12] as well as its Innovation Center, becoming the first African-American woman to do so.[6][14]

In 2008, Jones presented EyeMail Inc. in the first season of the CBS reality competition show The Next Tycoon, which she won.[6][15] Jones subsequently contacted Georgia's Greater Women's Business Council (GWBC) and offered to create a free EyeMail Inc. campaign for them.[5][6] The campaign caught the attention of Time Warner executives, and the company became EyeMail Inc.'s first client.[6][8] This prompted Jones to leave her day job and fully dedicate herself to the company.[12] Following Time Warner, EyeMail Inc. began to work with other companies like The Coca-Cola Company, Delta Air Lines, Major League Baseball,[5] Porsche North America, Aetna, the Atlanta Braves,[12] and The Home Depot, among others.[6] In 2008, EyeMail Inc. was listed at number 3 on the Atlanta Tribune's list for the "Top 8 Atlanta Businesses to Watch".[16]

In 2008, EyeMail Inc. began a formal relationship with The Coca-Cola Company as part of their mentor program through the Georgia Minority Supplier Diversity Council (GMSDC).[8] Three years later, the mentorship program with The Coca-Cola Company resulted in EyeMail Inc.'s selection by the Microsoft Corporation as a premier MWBE supplier in digital marketing.[17] EyeMail's business partnership with The Coca-Cola Company was pivotal to the growth of the company, purportedly causing its revenue to quadruple.[8] This allowed Jones' company to expand to Canada, Mexico, Pakistan, India and the United Kingdom.[8]

As both a black-owned and woman-owned business, EyeMail Inc. is a partner of the Billion Dollar Roundtable organization, where it classified as a Minority Women Business Enterprise (MWBE) strategic partner.[18] As EyeMail Inc.'s CEO, Jones took part as a panelist at the 2014 Billion Dollar Summit held by the Minority Business News USA (MBNUSA).[19]

Writing for Forbes magazine in 2021, Laurel Donnellan noted that: "EyeMail's next-generation email experience has repeatedly proven with increases to click-through and call-to-action open rates while bringing email to life for a more engaging & memorable experience. Customers have achieved open rates of 60% and click-through rates of 38%, far above the industry average."[12] In 2018, Jones announced that the company would expand its business model of custom-made campaigns, moving towards a software as a service (SaaS) platform.[5] As of 2020, EyeMail Inc. partners with both private businesses—including The Coca-Cola Company and Delta Air Lines—as well as nonprofit organizations, such as the Make-A-Wish Foundation.[3][12] Recently, EyeMail Inc. has launched a new product called EyeCon, which animates a logo or email signature,[8][12] which, according to Forbess Lauren Donellan, "brings company logos to life".[12]

The company's business model grew significantly due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as the need for employers to effectively communicate digitally became more relevant.[20] In 2020, EyeMail Inc. announced the release of new options to support the hearing and visually impaired with close captioning, so they can also engage with the company's video email technology.[12] This new venture was done in collaboration with Senior Architects at Microsoft's Innovation Lab.[21] The company is also developing a "video in text solution" to expand product offerings, expected to be launched in 2022.[3]

In 2020, EyeMail Inc.was chosen by PepsiCo as one of 15 participants in the Stacy's Pita Chips's Rise Project, a mentorship program to support black women business owners.[22] As part of the project, EyeMail was added to a Female Founder Finder directory, which directs consumers to nearby female-founded businesses.[23]

In 2021, Jones was listed as one of the "Top 10 Businesswomen to Admire in 2021" by global business magazine CIO Look,[20][24] while EyeMail was listed as one of the "20 Innovative Companies Which Everyone Should Know in 2021" by the Atlanta-based Global Business Leaders Mag.[20][13] In 2022, Jones was included in The Enterprise World's list for the "Enterprising Women of the Year",[25] and The Atlantan Magazine's special feature on the top innovators from Atlanta.[26]

On May 23, 2022, EyeMail Inc. was a finalist for a Microsoft Supplier Prestige Award under the category of Diverse-Owned Supplier of the Year.[27] Microsoft's press release described the nominated companies as "third‑party certified diverse-owned suppliers that strengthen our portfolio, amplify Microsoft's values and commitments, and exemplify the MSP Pillars of Strategy, Priority, Agility and Modernization."[27] Also in 2022, EyeMail participated at MailCon,[28] was featured in Emailexpert's series of "speaker showcases",[29] and was included in Thinkers360's list of the "175 Women B2B Thought Leaders You Should Follow in 2023",[30] as well as a finalist for Women in Tech Network's Global Awards.[31] EyeMail also received a Corporate Excellence Award given by the Staffordshire-based publication Corporate Vision.[32]

In early 2023, EyeMail's Lisa S. Jones was listed among the "finest email mavens" by Uplers.[33] In May, she was among the winners of the Enterprising Women of the Year Award,[34] and the following month she listed as one of Top 100 Women of the Future in Emerging Tech by Women of the Future.[35] In June, Microsoft dedicated a special case study on EyeMail Inc., noting that it grew 71% in 2 years and delivers managed services projects 40% faster following the adoption of Microsoft 365 Business Premium.[36] The company has thus "[earned] a spot on the Inc. list of fast-growing small companies in the US Southeast region for 2023."[36] Writing for Microsoft the same year, Susanna Ray uses EyeMail Inc. as an example of "black-owned companies [that] are using corporate connections to give back".[37] The writer noted: "When Microsoft announced its Racial Equity Initiative in 2020 and set a goal to double the number of Black suppliers it does business with, a procurement engagement manager for the company remembered Jones and reached out, partnering with EyeMail to integrate video in email marketing communications as part of the Windows 11 launch in 2021."[37] In the same article, Jones stated:

I started crying when I got my first contract with Microsoft, because I was full of gratitude. Everyone told me, "You're a woman, you're a Black woman, you're from Alabama, you don't have the right network, you're not a coder" — I could go on and on. But I said, "I am going to make it." So when I was awarded the Microsoft contract, and the supplier number, the whole process of onboarding was fabulous, and it was exhilarating. We have a lot of Fortune 500 customers on our roster now, and there are so many tangible and intangible benefits to this relationship that continue to evolve and show up.[37]