Seattle-based doxo aims to provide corpora- tions an efficient channel for paperless trans- actions.

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What: doxo, based in Seattle

Who: Steve Shivers, 41, co-founder and CEO

Mission: Provide corporations an efficient channel for paperless transactions.

Financials: Client companies will pay a subscription fee, generating revenue for doxo. The company is funded by Mohr Davidow Ventures and Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos’s Bezos Expeditions, which adds local cred. “To have the support of both a first-rate VC firm and the local technology community is a great endorsement,” Shivers said.

Employees: Fewer than 20

Secret for now: The company is unspecific for now about details of its product and when it will be introduced, but Shivers isn’t shy about disclosing goals: “Paperless adoption is around 12 percent, which is where it was 10 years ago,” he said. “We think that we can quickly gain a 45 or 50 percent adoption rate. And if we get some big-name clients the others will fall in line.”

Purposeful: Consumers have been reluctant to embrace paperless systems for three reasons, Shivers said. They are forced to log in to several systems and can’t keep track of different passwords; it’s too easy to miss a due date; and there is no effective way to manage the disparate documents. “Half of our target market pays their bills online,” Shivers said. “But only 20 percent receives them electronically.”

Letter rip: Even though most people prefer to receive their bills through the U.S. Postal Service, sorting through eight pieces of direct mail (or “junk”) to find two important documents can be a constant aggravation. Doxo, if it reaches critical mass, could punch a hole in the post office’s hull but won’t itself sink the ship, Shivers said. “It has a lot more problems than us right now,” he said.

— Charles Bermant