FusionOne raises $6M for mobile content backup services

San Jose-based FusionOne has raised $6 million in a Series A-1 preferred stock round for its mobile content backup services.

The company was founded a decade ago to create applications and services for mobile device users.

It started out with a synchronization technology platform. It allowed users to securely sync files such as e-mail, calendar, browser settings and music between their computers and mobile phones. In 2001, it added wireless support and has helped the industry create a standard for mobile synchronization. The next year it created the MightyPhone service for automatic mobile contact updating.

Then in 2004, it launched its automatic backup service for mobile devices. Carriers such as Verizon use the service and have branded it with their own names, such as Verizon Backup Assistant. The company says that Backup Assistant is a top ten revenue generator for Verizon.

I actually use the Backup Assistant and gladly pay $2 a month to Verizon for the service. If I lose my phone, I risk losing all of my contacts. But I can ask Verizon to tap the Backup Assistant and download those contacts back into any new replacement phone that I activate.  That’s piece of mind. For the carrier, it’s an important service revenue that is necessary in an age when revenues from voice are inexorably headed downward.

The round was funded by El Dorado Ventures, Nokia Ventures, and Vesbridge Partners.