Funium’s core product is Family Village, a Facebook social game that turns personal genealogy into playable avatars and quests tied to real ancestors. Players create and customize avatars to resemble historical family members, dress them in period clothing, and complete quests related to each ancestor’s likely activities. The game houses real historical documents in an in-game “museum,” sourcing materials in-house and through partners such as AncestorSync and NewspaperArchive.com. Funium says first-time sessions average over 14 minutes and reports roughly 22,000–23,000 monthly active users and 2,000–2,500 daily active users during its quiet testing period; re-engagement metrics on day 1, 7 and 30 are described as “good” though not specified. Family Village is live on Facebook but has not had an official public debut. The company emphasizes that linking virtual rewards to real historical documents increases user stickiness and long-term engagement. Funium develops Facebook games that aim to produce real-world content and long-term social value. Its flagship title, Family Village, enables players to explore their personal family trees and build highly personalized virtual online communities. Family Village is integrated with FamilyLink, allowing players to connect with billions of family-history records via the Facebook platform. The company plans to release Family Village in Q2 2011. Funium secured a $1.2 million angel investment to accelerate development and expansion. CEO Jeff Wells says the funding validates the company’s vision to unite family members and friends through social media. Jim Sorenson, Paul Allen and Paul Brockbank will serve on Funium’s advisory board and contribute experience as the company brings its concept to market.

Total raised

$3M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Seed

Latest activity

Aug 2012