FlowPlay, described by Founder Derrick Morton as a "virtual world platform powered by casual gaming," has received $3.7 million in its first round of funding led by Intel Capital and Ambient Sound Investments. It previously took in about $500,000 in angel financing to launch the company, which we reported on in March. The world, it seems, is an avatar-based, shardless environment focused on bringing teens together in casual games. The first product, "a place where playing games gets you clothing, furniture, pets and everything else you need for your virtual life," won't launch until sometime in spring 2008. Once it is launched, the company plans on a subscription fee of $5.99/month for total access. However, Morton has declined to specify any specific launch date. He told the Seattle PI that part of the issue is simply that FlowPlay takes longer to develop than traditional Web 2.0 applications. "If they get a little traction, they'll be able to raise money. We, on the other hand, have a very complex entertainment product which required a lot of resources and time to build," he said. "Some of the individual features of our product would be as much as many startups would take on. We were lucky enough to have a strong group of angels who were excited about our vision. This gave us enough runway to build the beta product that got us in the door at the VC level." Intel also invested in companies like Click&Buy (which is losing money and laying off people) and what is so unique about FlowPlay (versus PlayRay for example) other than cooler-looking avatars and more evangelical management that will make it a success in the virtual world space remains to be seen. Good luck with it!
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