Sorting through your personal email can be such a harrowing experience it’s little wonder so many people’s inboxes boast triple, or even quadruple, digit numbers of unread messages. And they’re not from your nearest and dearest, either. They’re from brands and companies that gleaned your email address that one time you bought something, and they’ve been harassing you ever since.

Sure, you might want to have a skim through their latest promotional blurb at some point, but with dozens of different messages piling up, it’s easier to just ignore the lot of them. So both the customer and the company are losing out.

New platform Sift aims to redress the balance by combining those mountains of messages into one good-looking iPad catalog – something users might take the time to peruse and purchase from – and has plans to enter the social market soon, combining deals and offers from Facebook and Twitter.

Only launched in November 2012, Sift has just scooped a seed investment round and has gotten John Deyto – branding whizz for the likes of Ralph Lauren and Pepsi – on board as director of creative and user experience. There are also plans afoot for a smartphone app and gamification element.

Email has never worked well as a sales device – its inherent nature is as a communication tool. Can Sift remedy this disconnect?