A company selling development support for a popular open source device data synchronization technology has pulled in $5M in first-round funding. Funambol claims its Sync4j tools represent the leading open source implementation of SyncML, and can be used to “develop, deploy, and manage any mobile project.”

Funambol says it will use the venture funding to expand its engineering, sales, and marketing operations. The series-A funding round was led by Walden International and H.I.G. Ventures.

According to Funambol, Sync4j is the leading open source implementation of the Open Mobile Alliance's (OMA's) Data Synchronization (DS) and Device Management (DM) protocols, also known as SyncML. The OMA DS/DM or SyncML protocols are supported by 80 percent of handsets shipped in the US in 2005, the company claims, including Motorola's newest Linux phones.

According to the Sync4j website, the project comprises:

• A mobile application server with connectors to SQL relational databases, Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Domino, and SugarCRM
• Clients for Outlook, Windows Mobile PocketPC, BlackBerry, Palm, and iPod that can synchronize PIM data (address book and calendar) with the server
• A POP, IMAP, and SMTP gateway
• Java (J2SE and J2ME) and C++ development tools for building applications on sometimes-connected devices
• An OMA DM server to remotely manage mobile devices

Walden's management director Mary Coleman, also director at Funambol, said, “Just as the adoption of open standards on the Internet was accelerated by open source, Funambol's mobile application server is emerging as the open standard used to synchronize applications and services, making possible device management across the entire wireless industry.”

Funambol CEO Fabrizio Capobianco said, “We believe that only open source software implementations of industry standards like OMA DS/DM can drive consensus among the mobile device manufacturers and carriers. The promise of Sync4j is on-the-fly provisioning and data synchronization for group calendaring, email, sports scores, contact information, and field force automation.”

Sync4j has been downloaded more than 18,000 times, Funambol says.

 
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