What Ecomail does

Ecomail donates 30% of revenue to environmental associations (rising to 50% in some reporting) and displays monthly revenue and donation proofs in real time on its user interface, earning third-party credibility through the 1% for the Planet label and Kastor.green audit. The business operates a fully self-serve, direct-to-consumer go-to-market with no sales team, relying on content marketing, SEO, social media, and word-of-mouth within eco-conscious communities. A related sub-brand, Ecomtel (launched 2023), extends the same donation model into mobile telecommunications under the shared Vie.eco parent. The company is bootstrapped (€10,000 initial declared capital), holds no external investors, and serves a France-centric customer base of environmentally motivated individual consumers and a small professional tier starting at €36 per year.

Name

Ecomail

Legal name

Vie.eco SAS

Website

https://ecomail.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Ecomail is a French eco-responsible email hosting service (Vie.eco SAS) offering €12/year mailboxes bundled with cloud storage and calendar, donating 30% of revenue to environmental associations, and serving environmentally conscious individual consumers in France.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Auvergne

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Email subscription (annual): Annual subscription at €12/year per mailbox. Includes email hosting, disk storage, and calendar. 30% of revenue donated to environmental associations (€3–5 per subscription). 30-day free trial drives acquisition. Paid annually for 12 months.
2. Ecomtel mobile service (sister company): Ecomtel is a mobile operator offering biodiversity-committed mobile plans. Ecomtel donates 30% of its commercial margin (€2.5 HT/month/plan) to environmental associations. Both Ecomail and Ecomtel are brands under Vie.eco SAS.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Ecomail sells a paid French email hosting service at €12 per year (with a 30-day free trial and professional hosting from €36/year) that includes email, shared calendar, and cloud storage, all hosted on Scaleway servers in Paris running 100% renewable hydroelectric energy. The company differentiates by donating 30–50% of its revenue to environmental associations, operating with no advertising and no data selling, and publishing real-time revenue and donation proofs on the user interface.

Product overview

Ecomail offers a suite of eco-responsible digital communication services centered around its core email hosting product. The main Ecomail service provides paid email accounts at 12€ per year with a 30-day free trial, with 30% of revenue donated to environmental associations. The product ecosystem includes Ecomail Calendrier (shared online calendar), Ecomail Disque (cloud storage with collaborative features and cold archiving), and native mobile apps for iOS and Android. A related brand, Ecomtel, extends the eco-responsible mission to mobile telecommunications. All services are hosted in France on renewable energy-powered infrastructure.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Ecomtel: Mobile telecommunications operator offering biodiversity-committed mobile plans. Reverses 30% of commercial margin (€2.5 HT/month/plan) to environmental associations.

Products and services

• Ecomail Email Service Paid French email hosting service at €12/year (with a 30-day free trial) that includes mailbox hosting, shared calendar, and cloud storage, hosted on Scaleway servers in Paris running 100% renewable energy; 30–50% of revenue is donated to environmental associations and the service operates without advertising or data selling. A professional hosting tier is available from €36/year for professionals and small businesses.
• Ecomtel Mobile Plans Mobile telecommunications offering under the Vie.eco brand that donates 30% of commercial margin (about €2.50 HT/month/plan) to biodiversity associations, marketed as the mobile-plan counterpart to Ecomail's eco-email positioning.

Quantifiable outcome

• 7849 users and €112,600 donated to environmental associations since 2016
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Scaleway (ILLIAD group)coreTechnology or IntegrationScaleway, part of the ILLIAD group, provides Ecomail's hosting infrastructure. Servers are located in Paris data centers, powered by 100% renewable hydroelectric energy. Ecomail's technical team is the only entity with access to encrypted backups stored on Scaleway infrastructure.
• MailchannelscoreTechnology or IntegrationMailchannels handles outbound email routing and spam blocking for Ecomail. Email content is analyzed for spam detection but not retained. Routing servers are located in Switzerland and comply with EU standards.
• ECL DIRECT SAS (Groupe AMARRIS)minorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerECL DIRECT handles Ecomail's accounting and compliance obligations. Personal invoice data is transmitted directly to ECL DIRECT's accounting department.
• Ecomtel (Vie.eco ecosystem)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEcomtel is a mobile operator under the same Vie.eco parent company, offering biodiversity-committed mobile plans that donate 30% of margin to environmental associations. Both brands share the eco-mission and cross-promote each other.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Startmail: Dutch encrypted email service from the founders of Startpage (privacy search engine). Targets privacy-conscious paid users with PGP encryption — comparable paid subscription model and values-driven positioning.
• Tutanota: Germany-based encrypted email and calendar service with a similar mission of privacy-first, ad-free email. Comparable subscription model and target segment to Ecomail, with bundled calendar and contact features.
• Mailbox.org: Berlin-based ad-free email provider emphasizing privacy, sustainability (green hosting), and bundled office/calendar tools. Direct competitor in the eco/privacy email niche targeting consumers and small businesses.
• Proton (ProtonMail): Swiss-based encrypted email provider with strong privacy positioning and a freemium → paid funnel. Directly comparable to Ecomail in offering consumer/professional email hosting with a privacy/ethics mission, but at much larger scale and with venture funding.
• Fastmail: Established paid email provider with calendar and contact sync, targeting professionals and privacy-conscious users. Closely comparable subscription model and feature set, though without the environmental donation angle.
• Posteo: German email hosting provider with a strong sustainability and privacy positioning (100% renewable energy, ad-free, anonymous payment). Closest direct analogue to Ecomail's eco + privacy combination, serving a similar eco-conscious consumer base.
• Infomaniak: Swiss hosting and email provider operating its own data centers on 100% renewable energy with strict Swiss data protection. Comparable eco + privacy + EU-sovereign positioning and offers similar product bundling (email, cloud, calendar).

Emerging players

• Runbox: Norwegian email provider with a long-standing privacy and sustainability commitment, running on renewable energy. Comparable niche privacy/eco positioning with paid subscription model targeting individual consumers and SMBs.
• Disroot: Dutch non-profit providing privacy-focused email, cloud, and collaboration tools on a community-supported model. Comparable values-driven, privacy-first approach with bundled services, though operating on a donation model rather than paid subscriptions.

Regional players

• Gandi Mail: French domain registrar and hosting provider offering Gandi Mail, with a privacy-first, no-ads approach. Comparable French-market focus and bundled email/hosting product, but a broader infrastructure play rather than eco-only niche.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ecomail_global

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Ecomail