Stockholm-based startup Scape has officially launched its AI-native email client, securing $3.2 million in funding to challenge how professionals interact with their inboxes. Backed by prominent investors including Y Combinator, General Catalyst, and FundersClub, the company aims to transform email from a passive repository into a proactive work hub. Founded by 23-year-old entrepreneurs Melvin Hagberg and Elis Hodzic, Scape is designed to automate tasks and prioritize communication.
Reinventing the Inbox with Proactive AI
Scape distinguishes itself by preparing work proactively before the user even opens a message. The platform's AI drafts potential replies by drawing context from previous email threads and integrated meeting notes. It can also generate or edit necessary attachments, consolidating a multi-step process into a single click for review and sending.
The user interface is designed for focus, automatically surfacing only emails that require attention while hiding notifications and newsletters. It organizes the inbox with custom labels like "Customers" or "Hiring" to align with user priorities. A key feature is its local meeting notetaker, which captures context from calls in 99 languages without a bot joining the meeting.
A Vision Backed by Prominent Investors
The company's ambitious vision is supported by its $3.2 million seed round from a notable group of investors. Beyond institutional backing from Y Combinator and General Catalyst, Scape has attracted angel investors from tech giants like OpenAI, Google, and Meta. This diverse support signals strong confidence in the startup's potential to disrupt a long-stagnant market.
Gustaf Alströmer, a General Partner at Y Combinator, expressed strong conviction in the startup's approach. He stated that while AI's potential to transform email is clear, Scape's team and product are unlike anything he has seen before. Alströmer added that once people begin using the platform, they find it difficult to revert to traditional clients like Gmail.
The Founders' Journey and Market Positioning
The company's direction was shaped by founder Melvin Hagberg's experience in the Y Combinator accelerator program. Initially developing a customer support tool, he pivoted after realizing the technology could solve his own frustrations with email overload. Co-founder Elis Hodzic, who was originally an investor, later joined to help build out the vision for Scape.
Scape enters a competitive field with established players like Google's Gmail and niche products like Superhuman. However, Hagberg asserts that Scape is not just another email management tool or plugin. The company's core bet is that professionals need an interface purpose-built for completing the work that originates from their email, not just organizing it.
With its new funding and a clear vision, Scape is poised to redefine the role of the inbox in professional workflows. The Stockholm-based team of five is now planning to expand its engineering and product departments as it opens its platform for early access. By focusing on proactive task completion, Scape aims to make email a faster, more impactful, and ultimately more enjoyable tool for professionals.