Sharpcast has raised a $10 million round from existing investors Sigma Partners, Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Selby Venture. This brings the total raised to $26.5 million. The round is described as a “Series AA,” which implies that it was done at the same or lower valuation as the original Series A back in March, 2006. I’ve asked the company for clarification on that. Update: It was indeed a down round (i.e., at a lower valuation). CEO Laura Yecies confirms:

This series is labeled ‘Series AA’ because of the terms, participating investors and the overall recapitalization structure. It is a ‘down round’, but given the economic conditions at the time of the previous round (March 2006) and the current financial climate, we’re very happy with such a very strong vote of confidence from our investors.

Sharpcast offers file-syncing through its SugrarSync service, which syncs data across multiple devices (PCs, Macs, iPhones, Windows Mobile phones) and the cloud. For instance, using its iPhone app a user is able to view all the photos on her desktop if they are in a SugarSync folder.

Syncing is becoming a serious technology trend as people split up their digital lives across devices and the Web. It is one of the promises of Windows Live Mesh from Microsoft, which won the Crunchie for best technology innovation. Apple offers syncing through its MobileMe service. Startups like Sharpcast and Dropbox are looking to carve out their own niche here with both free and subscription services.

Sharpcast’s SugarSync is a subscription service, with prices ranging from $25 to $250 a year. The vast majority of the 20,000 people who have signed up since launch last March are paying $50 a year. Using back-of-the-envelope math, at $50 per user, that implies a $1 million run-rate. CEO Laura Yecies tells me she will use the $10 million to ramp up marketing and keep developing the product.

Yecies is going up against both Apple and Microsoft here. I asked if that worries her. She responds:

With MobileMe it is a very Apple centric solution, but not effective for people who are cross-platform. Live Mesh is still much more talk than actual software, but it will probably be more Microsoft-centric. We have a solution that is actually working now. Those companies have not been successful from a technical point of view. I don’t grant them automatic success.

Trust me, both Microsoft and Apple will figure this out. In the meantime, Sharpcast can build a nice little business and maybe get acquired.

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Online backup site Mozy is giving away 50 free year-long accounts to commemorate the official release of their Mac backup client.

To get yours, send a message to techcrunch@mozy.com that answers the question, “Why do you deserve free backup service for your Mac?” Data-loss horror stories are encouraged. The Mozy team will select the fifty best responses and will email the winners instructions to claim their free accounts.

Mozy is a cloud-based alternative to Apple’s Time Machine, which works very well but doesn’t have the added security of off-site data backup. And at $4.99 a month for unlimited storage, the price is couldn’t be much lower.

We covered Mozy’s Mac version last April when it was introduced as beta. The final version of the software has introduced support for Apple Mail and Leopard, along with a host of technical features like bandwidth throttling and compatibility for programs with resource forks.

In addition to local backup solutions like Time Machine, Mozy faces competition from online storage sites such as Apple’s .Mac, Sugarsync, and recently-released Syncplicity. Carbonite, one of the leaders in this space, works on Windows machines but has yet to release a Mac version.

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Sharpcast has been holding their heads down over the last four years working on a technology that promises to solve a basic need: that of accessing your files no matter which device you’re currently using.

Today Sharpcast finally takes the lid off SugarSync, a consumer product that promises to automatically synchronize data across desktop computers, laptops, mobile phones, and even televisions. This release comes a year after the company announced the first version of a photo application that could sync photos across devices. SugarSync is the all-purpose syncing system, previously dubbed “Hummingbird”, that was anticipated back then. Turns out the photo app was just a proof of concept.

While the photo app required users to change their behavior by giving up other apps like iPhoto and Picassa, SugarSync syncs files from the file system level. Once users download, install and configure the SugarSync client (available for both PCs and Macs), they don’t have to use any SugarSync-specific programs to edit and organize their files. As long as these files reside in folders that have been configured for synchronization, they will be kept up-to-date with not only Sharpcast’s cloud storage but all other synced computers as well. Make a change to a file on your PC and that file will be instantly updated on your laptop as well, assuming both devices are turned on and connected to the internet. You’ll also be able to access these synced files through the web browser wherever you go.

If this sounds like FolderShare, Mozy or Dropbox (which I raved about last week), that’s because there’s a good deal of overlap between the four. Except for the backup-focused Mozy, all of them can be used to sync files across devices.

But they do differ in substantial ways. Files on Dropbox have to be placed in a particular folder, whereas with SugarSync you can choose to sync any areas of your hard drive. Sharing files with others is also currently much easier with Dropbox, although SugarSync says it has plans for comparable sharing functionality. And file versioning is absent from SugarSync, while it’s available with Dropbox. As for FolderShare, it requires all devices to be turned on whereas SugarSync does not.

SugarSync perhaps differs most from these other solutions by supporting the syncing of files to mobile devices and TV sets. If you have a BlackBerry or Windows Mobile device, you can install an application that makes it easy to sync files from your phone. For example, you can take a photo with your camera and it will be automatically pushed to your desktop photo collection. Unsupported handsets, like the iPhone, can be used to access files through the browser from a mobile version of the SugarSync site.

All in all, SugarSync is a very promising offering despite its current limitations. To get the most out of the system, however, you’ll need both bandwidth and money. There’s no free version (prices are set at $50/yr for 10gb and $100/yr for 30gb) and the initial upload of your media collection will take time. There’s a 40 day free trial for all memberships, though, so it’s worth a spin at the very least.

Update: The first 200 readers who sign up for Sharpcast here will get 50% off for two years.

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Danish startup ZYB started offering a service that simply backed up your mobile phone contacts to the web in mid-2006. A year later they turned all that data into a mobile social network. They’re one of the small startups with a real shot at mobile social network with critical mass. As of August 2007 they had 200,000 active users.

It’s no surprise, then, that ZYB is being emulated. Israeli startup NewACT, with $6.5 million in funding over two rounds from Cedar Fund, are launching a new service called SYNCY into beta today. The service lets users migrate contacts, calendars and media from a mobile phone to the web. It’s part ZYB, part Sharpcast.

While Syncy supports over 700 handset models, the iPhone isn’t one, so I took it out for a spin by installing it on a SonyEricsson phone. The feature that won me over was the ability to get immediate Web access to the photos and videos I’ve takes of our kids using the phone. Incidentally, the last time I had digital copies of such files was when I switched handsets. That’s when I had no choice but borrow a cable and install Nokia’s phone management application—by far, not a user-friendly proposition to access “everyday media”.

Syncy’s handset client is simple to operate and once syncing is configured to run automatically, it’s smooth sailing from there onwards. There’s also an Outlook plug-in which synchronizes contacts and events (Exchange is not required). Google calendar integration will be available shortly.

NewACT claims that Syncy is the only service to offer cross-phone synchronization. Meaning, you can sync a Nokia phone then stick the SIM in a Motorola phone and Syncy’s server will reformat and readapt the data to fit the exact data structures of your new phone.

500 TechCrunch readers will receive access to Syncy’s limited Beta by requesting an account and entering “TechCrunch.”

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Sharpcast came out of beta and released a 1.0 version of their photo synchronization application today. Sharpcast Photos syncs the photos you add and edits you make on your desktop, web, and mobile phone in real time.

The new version now allows you to collaboratively edit your photos and galleries, also in real time. Collaboration consists of the ability to share files and read/write privileges in public or private folders along with real time chat built into the client.

The demo I saw of Sharpcast’s real-time syncing is quite impressive, pushing file updates to all the platforms in under a second. Edit a photo in their application, on the web, or your desktop, and the changes are instantly pushed to each location. But Sharpcast isn’t trying to be the next Flickr, rather, the photo syncing application really a demo for their file syncing API. In the specific case of photos, whole photos are stored in each location, with edits to the original photo represented as meta data directions on how the to render the final version.

They currently have a broader file syncing application, Hummingbird, in the works. Hummingbird will handle syncing for all file types. It is essentially the same animal as the photo sharing application, but with fewer bells and whistles. Hummingbird will note and push your updates to your other platforms, but won’t carry out the same real-time updates of the photo product. To avoid the problem of two people making concurrent edits to a file, they will have to be saved, and then opened elsewhere to make changes. While Microsoft Word does support editing concurrency, Hummingbird does not currently support it.

Sharpcast took $13.5 million in financing last March.

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I drafted some real-time notes of the products demo’d and launched at event at CrunchNotes, and my more complete notes are below.

Attensa	Ether	lifeio
Netvibes	PostApp	PROTOMOBL
Sharpcast	SoonR	StumbleUpon
Vpod.tv	Webaroo	ZiXXo

Sharpcast

Palo Alto-based Sharpcast (TechCrunch posts here) has developed a platform to sync application data across your computers and mobile devices. Their first showcase application is Sharpcast Photos, which not only pushes photos from one device/computer to others, it also keeps them synced. Make a change on one and it pushes the changes to the other copies as well. There are lots of new applicaitions coming as well (documents, calendar, contacts). The company, which has raised $16.5 million in capital, will be application-agnostic so you don’t have to switch to using new software. Windows only today, Mac coming soon.

Webaroo

Webaroo, headquartered in Santa Clara is a new service that launched in April that allows PC users (no Mac support yet) users to access cached web content when they are offline. Webaroo offers pre-selected content, called “web packs”, and users can also cache whatever websites they would like to have access to. For more, see the TechCrunch Webaroo review here.

PostApp

PostApp is a new company that allows users to pull web services directly into their blog or other website without having the technical skills to use the API supplied by the service provider. With the explosion of widgets, PostApp may be the right application at the right time. They also secured $1.5 million in funding from Hummer Winblad. See the full profile here.

Vpod.tv

Vpod.tv was one of my favorite companies presenting at a conference in Spain last month. It is a video sharing site, similar to YouTube, but that focuses on transcoding to most video devices (ipod, PSP, etc.) and allowing users to download video to those devices. They also have an innovative approach to monetization. See the full TechCrunch post here, which also discusses their $5.1 million funding.

Ether

Ether officially launched at Supernova. They’ve created an “ebay for services” that allows people who wish to sell their time on the phone to do so. Place an Ether logo on your site – when someone clicks on it they can set up a time to speak with you according to the terms you’ve set (price, time of call, etc.). When your phone rings, there is a person on the other end who has already given their credit card information and is looking for your advice. Ether went into beta in March, and we covered the official launch here.

Lifeio

Bruce Spector from attap gave the Supernova audience a very early look at Lifeio, “the new life organizer”. Lifeio will combine instant messaging, email, calendaring, contacts, to-do lists, etc in a multipage Ajax site (from what I saw it looks like Lifeio is competing with Goowy, Netvibes, Pageflakes, etc.). Lifeio is also opensourcing the platform framework, called jitsu. Look for more details as the September launch date approaches, and sign up for the beta on the Lifeio homepage.

Other attap companies include Riffs, Buzzvote and personal DNA.

GearON

GearON, a mobile service launching this month from ProtoMobl, centers on your phone’s contact list and creates a social network around it to share photos, music, events and venue information. See the flash demo of GearON here to get a better idea of what it’s all about. Their launch will be covered on MobileCrunch as well as here at TechCrunch.

Soonr

Soonr is a new mobile platform that we’ve previously covered at TechCrunch. One of the most useful applications they’ve launched so far is the ability to use Skype on a normal cell phone (all you pay for are the Skype-out charges from Skype to your own cell, and you can then use Skype to call anyone on your Skype list). The Mac version of Soonr was announced at Supernova.

Zixxo

There are a few ways to look at Zixxo. For users they will deliver highly targeted local and national coupons to you based on whatever personal and demographic information you choose to share with them. For businesses, they are a very cost-effective way of reaching consumers who actually want to receive these coupons. For third parties there is a revenue share opportunity for bringing users and/or businesses to the network. Zixxo is still very young, but the core idea is strong. Look for a potential quick acquisition of this company if they start to get traction.

Attensa

Craig Barnes, the CEO of Attensa, talked about how his suite of RSS reader applications (mobile, outlook, online) analyze user behaviors to recommend specific content and help people deal with information overload. They’ve also just released a new version of Attensa for outlook. TechCrunch posts on Attensa are here.

Netvibes

Founder and Co-CEO Tariq Krim gave the audience an overview of London and Paris-based Netvibes, the Ajax home page that has seen tremendous growth and now has millions of passionate users. Netvibes now has an active community of independent developers creating modules for the site. Netvibes is on a roll. TechCrunch posts are here.

StumbleUpon

StumbleUpon is a social browsing application. Users download a browser toolbar and can find popular sites in different categories, vote on sites, etc. Stumbleupon has nearly 1 million registered users in 139 countries, who “stumble” 2.2 million sites er day. Advertisers can get their ads in front of a targeted audience for 5 cents an impression. I use this service.

Sharpcast is important, but hard to understand at a glance. The basic idea is to remove the hassle of syncing data across computers and mobile devices. The first product, Sharpcast Photos, showcases the technology quite well. In the future we’ll see products from Sharpcast that allow auto syncing of contacts, calendars and documents as well, all from their native applications (outlook, ical, etc.).

Sharpcast Photos, though, allows users to upload photos to a desktop application. It is available only for Windows machines today, with a Mac version promised soon.

Once the photos are in the desktop application, users make a few option selections and the photos are then placed on the web, synced to other computers and synced to a mobile device. The process works all multi-directionally, too. Upload a photo the web and it syncs to the desktop (and mobile device). Take a picture with the mobile device and it syncs to the web and the desktop.

I saw a demo of Sharpcast at the DEMO conference in February, and then again a couple of weeks ago from CEO Gibu Thomas and Marketing/Business Development Director Allen Bush. The application is extremely well done and the syncronization is near instantaneous to a mobile device. If anything, the Sharpcast guys have waited too long to launch the product. I found distressingly few bugs to complain about.

This is the future. The question is whether Sharpcast will be part of it or not. If they execute, they will be.

The product is a suite of consumer services that acts as a “uber-interpreter” across platforms (PC, mobile, etc.). Sign up to beta test their first product, Sharpcast Photos, on their website. If you have the time and are interested, read CEO Gibu Thomas’ post on Web 2.0 and why he created Sharpcast.

This round of funding signals that Sharpcast is in it for the long haul – no $30 million acquisition for them at this point. From what I’ve seen so far, they have real technology that can help bridge the gap between mobile and desktop applications.

A few companies caught my eye today as the ones to watch this year. Here they are:

Blurb

Blurb will turn your blog or other website into a book. As in, a real, tangible book that you can hold. The service is now in private beta and will be available to the public in March(ish). CEO Eileen Gittins does a great job describing the product and this looks to be an interesting space, especially for ego-type purchases where bloggers buy a copy for themselves.t’ll be about $30 for a four color, 40 page, 8×10 hardcover book with a custom dust jacket.

Kaboodle

I wrote about Kaboodle, a clip service that is really useful for gathering and sharing information on the web, back in October. They launched some incredible new features this week to normalize data across items: search for items, clone/copy a page, find related items, vote on items, etc. They are also allowing users to create profiles to allow more social aspects. A lot of people are finding Kaboodle to be a very useful shopping tool.

Kosmix

Mountain View based Kosmix is a structured search engine with three current verticals: health, politics and travel. More are coming soon. Instead of showing linear, Google-like results, Kosmix is categorizing results to create a taxonomy. They claim their engine can be used to create good results over almost any topic area. This is one to watch and I’ll be doing a full profile on them soon.

Krugle

Fred Wilson wrote about Krugle today as well, saying “It’s a search engine for open source software. Vertical search for open source. Sounds like a good concept. The demo was simple and the proposition was compelling. Not sure how they make money, but the demo isn’t supposed to focus on that.” Knowing how often developers use search engines to find code snippets, this will be an extremely useful. The company is based in Silicon Valley and Josh Kopelman is an investor.

Plum

Everyone’s buzzing about Plum, a new social bookmarking application with easy tools to turn bookmarked content into blog entries, photo album, feed list, etc.. Full profile coming soon.

Sharpcast

Sharpcast, led by CEO Gibu Thomas, just launched this week as well. It’s an incredibly powerful platform to synchronize data and any application between (certain) mobile devices and the desktop. The photo showcase application is compelling. Look for a full review on MobileCrunch. Sharpcast is funded and has the smell of a company that can go all the way.

Zingee

I finally got a look at newcomer storage service Zingee, which would have been included on my “Online Storage Gang” post if they had been around. Zingee could be serious competition for Omnidrive, with high end sharing features, permanent URLs for files, no file size restrictions (yeah!) and other neat feature. Full profile coming soon.

Lots more companies to write about tomorrow. See Jeff Clavier and Erick Schonfeld for additional profiles.