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Amid a tough venture funding environment, PDA-based city guide provider Vindigo has closed a $6.1 million financing with AOL Time Warner Ventures joining the round.

Also taking part in the third funding round was i-Hatch Ventures, a New York-based technology VC firm that joined current investors including JP Morgan Chase's Flatiron Partners.

That AOL Time Warner would take a stake in a wireless application development company -- amid the media giant's complex corporate-wide reorganization -- suggests that its "AOL Anywhere" wireless strategy as well as its "smart-phone" initiatives could be making headway.

The AOL Time Warner involvement also comes a few weeks after its rival Microsoft Corp. asked Vindigo to join its Mobility Partner Advisory Council, which promotes mobility products and innovation. In addition, Microsoft has just announced an aggressive new wireless MSN strategy in conjunction with Verizon Wireless.

With Microsoft also touting Vindigo's subscription-based city guide services on PDAs and wireless devices rigged with the Microsoft Pocket PC platform, Vindigo was already sitting pretty for further funding rounds, backers said.

Jason Devitt, founder and CEO of Vindigo said he expected the current funding to help the company turn the corner to profitability.

The funding news as well as who is involved this time are useful in pinpointing where the development for new wireless data networks now stands.

As Chip Austin, a managing partner for i-Hatch Ventures, explained, the thesis for the firm's stake in Vindigo is that it has reached an inflection point in a marketplace where three developments are hitting their zenith.

First, new "smart phones" with greater room for more advanced wireless applications are about to be deployed by carriers over the next year, he noted. Another factor are newer data networks that are ready to go live or have gone live, as is the case with Verizon's Express Network. And third, wireless application development platforms such as J2ME and even Qualcomm's BREW are enabling seamless applications that let a user download them and fire them up remotely -- without having to go to a Web browser, for example. And it's happening while billing for the services is sent to the cell phone bill.

"Most importantly," Austin said, "Vindigo has demonstrated consistent revenue growth and is on a clear path to profitability."

Based on the success of the $19.95 annual fee it charged for its city guide software for the Pocket PC platform, Vindigo launched a subscription-based version for the Palm devices for $24.95 a year, featuring beefed-up restaurant, music and museum listings. The paid service also features listings for more cities including Brooklyn, Orlando, Pasadena and San Jose, a wider selection of content and location features for finding bank ATMs and gas stations.