“You come across a meaningful problem, and you work on the solution. If this problem is also being faced by a greater portion of mankind, your work acquires a greater purpose and the journey just gets more exciting and fun,” said Sunil Patro, founder of SignEasy. For the last three years, Patro and his team have been doing exactly that, working to offer a solution that makes it easy to sign and return documents digitally.
The idea came to him after he spent time tracking down a printer and a fax machine while away from the office. This was in 2009, on a beach, when he was supposed to be on vacation. While there are too many of us who don’t know the meaning of the word vacation anymore, like Patro, there has to be a more efficient way to handle business affairs, even when you’re away.
In July 2010, he launched what would become SignEasy App. With it, you can fill and sign documents on the go, even inserting signatures, initials, dates, and more. And, yes, these electronic signatures are as legally binding as signing an actual paper document, and they have been for a while. In October of 2000, the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act went into effect in the U.S., ensuring the validity and legal effect of contracts entered into electronically. There are similar laws in place in many other countries, including the European Union, India, China and Canada.
Now, when you’re on a beach trying not to think about work, you won’t have to run around the resort looking for a fax machine should you need one. You can simply sign the document with your smartphone. Once the document is signed with SignEasy, whether on a smartphone or tablet, a copy of the signed document is sent to you, and they record the time, file name, and signer information to ensure an audit trail. That’s it. You don’t even have to leave your beach chair if you don’t want to.
Today, you can download the SignEasy app on iOS, BlackBerry and Android, and they just released an updated Android app this past week. According to Patro, this update is slicker, simpler, and has an enhanced user experience. Android users can now seamlessly import and export documents from popular cloud storage services, like Dropbox, Google Drive and Evernote. It has many positive reviews in both the Google Play store and Apple’s App store, where it was named a Top 10 Essential Business App.
What’s next for this startup? They’ve recently been accepted into Microsoft Accelerator’s 2013 winter batch in Bangalore out of over 1,000 applications. It’s a four-month program aimed at helping early stage startups, and Patro and his team are excited about the possibilities. “Since the launch of the accelerator programs two years ago, 114 startups have graduated, and nearly all that sought a subsequent round of funding received it,” said Patro. “Considering the nature of our ambitions and the global appeal of SignEasy, it made perfect sense for us to apply to this world class program. We are very excited to be part of the Microsoft Accelerator’s 2013 winter batch in Bangalore.”
What do you think? Would you use an app like SignEasy? It’s been downloaded over 1.5 million times and has been used in 100 countries. See the new Android version here, get it from Apple’s App Store here, or for your BlackBerry here.