That was quick: FlickIM, a lightweight IM client developed specifically for iPhone (by its still-stealth parent company Next3), has received $1.6 million in first round funding. The round was led by Alsop Louie Partners, and included Peter Theil….though the round was done prior to the iPhone launch for another product in mobile communications apps.

The client works using AIM client for now with iPhone’s Safari browser, and the company is building a more ambitious application, to be released in September, though it remains quiet on details, reports VentureBeat. Besides simple chat, the client allows users to put most YouTube videos and some movie trailers directly in the chat window for others to see.

The company says FlickIM loads much faster than say Meebo on iPhone, because, among other things, it only focuses on AIM, while Meebo connects to all IM clients over the slow EDGE network of AT&T.