Chris Arsenault, managing partner at iNovia Capital, says investing in a social gaming platform as no different than investing in a software company. As far as he's concerned, there is a growing market for social gaming. Still, aside from looking at the "chemistry, competency [and] integrity" of a company, he says, "the second hardest thing for me to do as a VC is trying to determine, 'OK, so what's the value of what we're betting on?"'

Determining that value of a pre-revenue company is a matter of guesswork, he adds. But in the case of Empire Avenue, he's confident his wager will pay off.