Sharpcast raises $10M for sync service SugarSync

Sharpcast, the maker of the SugarSync service for synchronizing your files across multiple devices, has raised a $10 million addition to its first round of funding.

I was super impressed when I tried SugarSync last March, because it was the the simplest and most usable sync service I’d seen. You just select the folders you want synchronized, and SugarSync takes care of the rest. But the product didn’t make as big a splash as I’d expected, due in part to complaints about the pricing. (The San Mateo, Calif. company has cut its prices since then.) Since I last covered Sharpcast, chief executive Gibu Thomas left the company, and was replaced by Laura Yecies in December. And competition has been building.

For example, Syncplicity recently raised $2.35 million from True Ventures and is notable for its integration with web-based services like Google Docs and Zoho. And there’s Live Mesh, the offering from software giant Microsoft. I’ve been sketpical of Live Mesh in the past, but after Microsoft gave me a preview of some of the cool applications built on the Mesh platform, I’m convinced it has a lot of potential — though I was still surprised when it won the “best innovation” award at this year’s Crunchies.

The new funding comes from previous backers Sigma Partners, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and Selby Ventures. Sharpcast has raised a total of $26.5 million.

Update: Yecies told TechCrunch that the founding was a “down round” that lowered Sharpcast’s valuation.