Richard Garriott's Portalarium takes funding for mobile/social games

m8 Capital and Founders Fund chip in to bring startup's total funding to $3.6 million

US social mobile gaming startup Portalarium has announced a new funding round, taking its total raised so far to $3.6 million. The investors are UK-based m8 Capital and US-based Founders Fund.

Portalarium is based in Austin, Texas but has some British gaming roots: it was founded in 2009 by Richard Garriott, of Ultima Online fame. His new venture hasn't released any games yet, but its first title is due out in the coming months.

"With m8 Capital and Founders Fund, we have the investment resources in place with two very key partners who are prepared to help us grow and scale our company to meet the opportunities found currently in social media and mobile platforms," says Portalarium CEO Fred Schmidt.

"m8 Capital also provides an important international role as we shape our strategy for the European market while Founders Fund has been invaluable in keeping us solidly connected to the social media scene that has coalesced in the Bay Area."

Details of the company's first game are under wraps for now, but the company's stated aim is to 'create an open ecosystem of mobile and social gamers, fully integrated into existing social networks and gaming communities while fully enabled by latest developments in mobile devices and platforms'.