The proceeds will be used for continued development and accelerated commercialisation of Synchronica's Mobile Gateway product that will add growth in its core mobile email business. The move strengthens Synchronica's position at a time when growth in mass market mobile email services is set to explode, and consumer demand for over-the-air (OTA) backup and restore service is increasing.
Mobile industry analyst firm Visiongain expects the consumer mobile email market to grow from eight million consumer email accounts in 2007 to 36 million in 2008 and 184 million accounts anticipated by 2011. According to new research by analyst firm Frost & Sullivan, wireless email is moving from a nice-to-have to a must-have application in the enterprise, with revenues set to grow from EUR 1.86 billion in 2007 to an estimated EUR 6.65 billion in 2012.
Synchronica's Mobile Gateway is a carrier-grade middleware solution combining push email and synchronization services. Based on open industry standards, Mobile Gateway can synchronize with 1.5 billion mobile devices in use today, including popular models from leading device manufacturers, such as Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, and Apple. Mobile Gateway has the benefit of synchronizing without requiring any additional software to be installed on the device or behind the firewall, a factor which will boost consumer adoption rates.
Carsten Brinkschulte, CEO of Synchronica, comments: "This funding will enable us to capitalize on the traction we have in the international marketplace and to further improve our competitive position, particularly in the mobile email space. Our unique zero footprint architecture and commitment to open industry standards is the key to operators successfully targeting the consumer market, particularly with mobile push email."
Synchronica also expects to see an increasing demand from consumers for a backup and restore facility for their mobile devices in 2008. This is because consumers increasingly depend on their mobile device as the primary repository for vital information such as phone numbers and addresses. If a person's phone is lost or stolen, it is the information on the phone, rather than the device itself, which is now of highest value.
"We anticipate a significant increase in demand for a low-cost facility from service providers that will allow consumers to backup and restore their contacts information over the air. Mobile operators are always looking for new revenue streams, and an OTA backup and restore service may be the mobile data application that will be successful in the mass market in 2008", added Synchronica CEO Carsten Brinkschulte.