GoDaddy Acquires MailChimp Competitor Mad Mimi To Beef Up Its Email Marketing Service

Web hosting provider GoDaddy has finalized its acquisition of the MailChimp competitor, Mad Mimi, according to an official announcement. The acquisition will enable GoDaddy to boost its offerings for small businesses and fortify its erstwhile sparse email marketing service.

Steven Aldrich, GoDaddy’s SVP of Business Applications, reveals that the company previously offered an outdated product known as “Easy Email Marketing.” This product will now be succeeded by Mad Mimi’s technology. GoDaddy’s selection of Mad Mimi was also influenced by the latter’s excellent customer service, a trait GoDaddy wishes to impart to its small business owner clientele.

Funding details for the deal remain undisclosed. However, Mad Mimi had a notably low capitalization, having been largely bootstrapped since its 2007 inception. The company remained profitable, though specific figures have not been disclosed.

Mad Mimi was founded by Gary Levitt, a part-time jazz musician, and part-time busboy, in Brooklyn, New York. Levitt conceived the idea when attempting to create a web app for musicians desiring an accessible online press kit. Despite initial setbacks, Levitt persisted and mid-way through the project, pivoted towards designing an email service.

Levitt abhorred the uniformity in email services prevalent up till 2008, and as a reaction, incorporated content blocks in Mad Mimi, enabling superior customization. Mad Mimi began slowly gaining traction post-launch, with growth powered by Levitt’s incessant efforts, rather than any substantial external funding or marketing.

At its peak before the acquisition, Mad Mimi had about 250,000 customers, mostly free-tier subscribers and dispatched over 50 million emails every day. The service counted some high-profile names among its client base, including Disney, Aol, StumbleUpon, Timbuk2, Air Canada, Seth Godin, Kellog’s, Jelly Belly, and Facebook. Furthermore, most were utilizing Mad Mimi’s resources for their internal corporate communications.

Levitt optimistically opines that GoDaddy’s acquisition is logical given the shared clientele base. The distributed team at Mad Mimi will join GoDaddy but continue working from their existing locations. Mad Mimi’s technology will also be introduced to GoDaddy’s 12 million-strong user base in the near future.

GoDaddy has recently been active in acquiring small business-focused startups to leverage advanced and innovative technologies. Its acquisitions prior to Mad Mimi include Locu, Media Temple, Ronin, Afternic, M.dot, Canary, and Outright.

Source: Sarah Perez/Tech Crunch

Light edits were made in 2025 to improve clarity and relevance.