Infinium announces $44m funding plans

Broadband game delivery proponent Infinium Labs has announced a revision of its stock issue plans, which will now see the company raising $44 million from the venture rather than the previously planned $15 million.

Back in January the company announced that it had agreed a stock purchase which would see $15 million being raised; the investors participating in that purchase have now been joined by a further firm, raising the total value of the issue to $44 million.

The new company coming on board the purchase is HaDavar HaNachon LLC, joining former investors SBI-USA and Infinium Investment Partners (which is an offshoot of Trilogy Capital Partners).

"We agreed to increase our investment in Infinium," explained SBI-USA managing director Shelly Singhal, "because we believe the management team has demonstrated its ability to create a cutting-edge delivery system that will be able to capture demand for new types of game services into the home and to expand the video gaming market."

While some investment companies may believe in Infinium, much of the videogames industry and the media remain skeptical of the company's plans to launch a new console platform and broadband content delivery service.

The company plans to have a major presence at E3, marking the public debut of the Phantom console and - it hopes - winning much needed credibility for the project. Ahead of the Los Angeles trade show, Infinium is expected to announce concrete details of its plans - and a note on the company's website promising a relaunch on May 10th is clear about the firm's intentions for next month's debut.

"The Critics, The Cynics, The Detractors, The Doubters, will become Converts," it promises. Next month will almost certainly be "make or break" for Infinium Labs - and converting the critics and cynics is exactly what the company needs to do at this point.