# Xobni

> Xobni was a San Francisco software company that turned email and communication history into searchable contact profiles. Its Outlook plug-in and Smartr apps combined correspondence, attachments and social information, with free products and paid upgrades. Founded in 2006 by Adam Smith and Matt Brezina, it joined Yahoo in 2013; its hosted services closed in July 2014.

- **Founded:** 2006
- **Headquarters:** San Francisco, United States
- **Founders:** Adam Smith (Co-founder; founding CEO, later CTO), Matt Brezina (Co-founder)
- **Products:** Xobni for Outlook, Xobni Plus, Xobni for BlackBerry, Xobni One, Xobni Cloud and Xobni Pro
- **Notable:** Participated in Y Combinator’s Summer 2006 batch., Bill Gates demonstrated Xobni at the 2008 Office Developer Conference., Received a PC Magazine Editor’s Choice award, cited in the company’s recruiting materials.

## Products & services

- **Xobni for Outlook** — A sidebar for contact search, conversation history, shared attachments, email analytics and social profile information; public beta began in May 2008.
- **Xobni Plus** — Paid Outlook search upgrade with Boolean and phrase queries, filtering and recipient suggestions. Launched at $29.95 for one computer.
- **Xobni for BlackBerry** — A mobile automatic address book with contact search and social information.
- **Xobni One** — Cloud-based synchronization between Outlook and BlackBerry contacts; subsequently replaced by Xobni Cloud.
- **Xobni Cloud and Xobni Pro** — A shared contact platform and premium subscription covering supported products, multiple devices and advanced features.
- **Smartr Inbox for Gmail** — A browser extension displaying contact profiles and relationship information within Gmail.
- **Smartr Contacts for Android** — A free mobile contact app assembling profiles from communication and social data.
- **Smartr Contacts for iPhone** — A free contact app bringing contact details, communication history and social profiles together. Released January 24, 2012.
- **Xobni for Teams** — Group subscriptions with consolidated billing, license management and volume discounts.
- **Xobni Gadget Platform** — An extension platform for services within Outlook, including EchoSign document signing and Nimbb video messaging.

## Achievements

- Participated in Y Combinator’s Summer 2006 batch.
- Bill Gates demonstrated Xobni at the 2008 Office Developer Conference.
- Received a PC Magazine Editor’s Choice award, cited in the company’s recruiting materials.
- Raised approximately US$42 million across its financing history; the listed rounds are selected major announcements.
- Acquired by Yahoo on July 3, 2013.

## Latest updates

- **2013-07** — Yahoo acquired Xobni; the financial terms were not officially disclosed.
- **2014-07** — Hosted Xobni and Smartr services shut down on July 2. Yahoo described related features already incorporated into Yahoo Mail; a free Outlook Infinity Edition was offered as a replacement.

## Links

- Website: http://www.xobni.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/xobni/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/xobni
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/xobni

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/xobni
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-30