"I am delighted to play a role in the launch of this remarkable company," said Sorenson, founder of Sorenson Communications, Sorenson Media and early investor in Ancestry.com. "It is refreshing to find a company like Funium that looks beyond the traditional application of online gaming to really transform the way players interact. As we continue to explore new and better ways to communicate and engage using the Internet, it is exciting to support a company with such an impressive plan for uniting family members and friends through a social media platform."

Funium is scheduled to release its first online game, Family Village, in Q2 2011. Family Village enables players to explore their personal family trees and unite with their real families while building their own highly personalized virtual online community. Funium strives to create social gaming environments that produce real world content and contain long-term social value.

"This funding not only validates our vision of creating virtual communities that positively impact real-world communities, but it allows us the means to implement that vision by making it available to gamers everywhere," said Jeff Wells, CEO of Funium. "Online gaming has long made it possible for players from all around the world to convene and interact. At Funium, we hope to connect those people in a more meaningful way, so they are not only playing together, but they are also learning from each other."

Sorenson, Allen and Brockbank will also lend their considerable talents and experiences as members of Funium's advisory board as it focuses on developing games that blend entertainment with opportunities for personal and communal growth.

"We are very pleased to have the support of Jim, Paul and Paul," Wells said. "They each have proven track records as visionaries within their respective fields, and we look forward to collaborating with them and other investors as we bring this new concept to market."