When we launched PrivacyPack last week, we were expecting a positive response. The tool was intended to be an easy way for the privacy community to share the products they used. And it worked out quite well in that respect. What was surprising, was the support we got from companies all over the world building these products. The retweets and reposts were done publicly, but we also got so many private messages of support, gratitude, and most importantly - the need for coming together for each other.
We were already having similar conversations with a couple of such organisations. However, the success of PrivacyPack gave us the nudge that this is the right time to come together. It also made us realise there are so many of us out there building with a similar philosophy around business models, funding, open source and privacy and the future of consumer tech. The frontier of this movement was everywhere, and there were teams - both large and small, that have already enlisted in the cause.
At this point in time, most of us are working alone. And most of us have already made inroads. But there are times where taking on the large competition seems impossible, dwarfed by the scale of them. What we need now more than anything is to come together and push each other to achieve what we all want.
As a first step, we are announcing a partnership with Kagi. In case you haven’t heard of them, Kagi Search is a privacy focused, ad-free search engine that prioritises user experience over advertising revenue - with features around customising your search results including blocks, pins and filters. While it is a paid service, as part of this partnership, we are offering our subscribers a 3 month free trial to Kagi Search’s professional unlimited plan to explore what a great search engine should look like. Go check out ente.io/friends.
On the other hand, all Kagi subscribers would get a 25% discount on any Ente plan for the first year.
The founders of the two companies have been in touch for quite some time - mostly with the purpose of exchanging notes on how to build the company they envision. Over time, the similarities in thought process became very clear - both the companies are bootstrapped, privacy focused and are wary of the negative effects of an advertising based business model. Because of that, and multiple other points of alignment, Kagi was a great first friend to start this initiative with.
We are hoping this turns out to be a successful partnership for both of us. What we want to build is a network of friends with similar philosophy on top of the success of this first one. We are already having conversations with a couple of other companies on this front. If you have any suggestions on who we should partner with, join our Discord and let us know. We need friends everywhere.