FamilyLink.com Inc., partly on the strength of a popular Facebook application, has raised $2.9 million in a second round of venture capital financing, even in the face of a recession and credit crisis that show few signs of easing.

Investors included vSpring Capital, a Salt Lake City-based venture capital fund, and TTP Capital Advisors of Japan, the Provo-based social networking company said Wednesday. Both companies had invested in FamilyLink.com's first round of financing in August 2007. Several wealthy angel investors were also involved.

"We had an advantage, in that investors from our [first round] saw our growth and the continued potential growth in our company and are willing to fund our firm to a higher degree," said Jim Ericson, vice president of marketing.

FamilyLink.com is the developer of "We're Related," a Facebook application used by nearly a million viewers a day, according to the company.

"We're Related" helps Facebook users connect to other family members. In January, FamilyLink.com touted "We're Related" as the fifth-most popular Facebook application.

Ericson said proceeds of the financing will be used to fund "We're Related" and other family social networking projects.

The company will launch its "premier" networking site by March 31 that will marry family gossip with genealogical research, he said. The site will permit families to share news, with users uploading photos and other family records that other members can view and work on together.

"If you think about the power of the network, content is king, but distribution is King Kong," said Paul Ahlstrom, a vSpring managing director and cofounder. "I get to piggy-back and leverage all that [network] infrastructure, and that takes [social networking and genealogy] to another level."

The company owns WorldVitalRecords.com, a genealogy site, and will launch another site, GenSeek.com, later this year. Beyond Facebook, it has written applications for social networking sites MySpace, Bebo, Hi5 and Friendster.

FamilyLink.com says it wants to be a leader in family social networking on all social networks, including ones developed for mobile telephones.

"Research shows that protecting the family is the top human value in most nations. Technology enables families to keep in touch despite distance, and we think this desire to stay in touch will only deepen in hard economic times," CEO Paul B. Allen said in a statement.

FamilyLink.com was formed in 2006. Ericson said the company became profitable in December. Although he won't reveal how much the company earned, Ericson said the profit wasn't a fluke.

"It's been sustained since," Ericson said.

Ahlstrom said vSpring was eager to invest a second time in FamilyLink.com

"The greatest companies are invested in during the [economic] troughs," he said.

pbeebe@sltrib.com