• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, June 8, 2010

BigDoor, a provider of white-label virtual goods systems, on Tuesday said it closed a second round of funding worth $5 million. The financing was led by Foundry Group.

Seattle-based BigDoor helps publishers build game-like mechanics and loyalty programs and apps, which usually involve some type of points, badges, levels, leaderboards, virtual currency and virtual goods.

BigDoor's platform also allows publishers and mobile application providers to create and manage their own virtual economy and "game mechanics" through an open API.

"We built our platform to be extensible for developers," said Jeff Malek, co-founder and chief technology officer of BigDoor. "Third-party developers are already building apps for the BigDoor platform, and their early feedback has been extremely positive."

The virtual goods and currency market was expected to reach an estimated $1.8 billion in 2009, as 12% of Americans reported having bought a virtual item at some point during the year, according to a recent study by analyst firm Frank N. Magid Associates and commissioned by virtual currency provider PlaySpan.

Demographically, the market is more balanced than one might assume, as 15% of males ages 12-24 reported purchasing virtual goods, while 15% of women between the ages of 35 and 44 did so, too.

Late last year, virtual world IMVU said it achieved profitability, and doubled its revenue to $25 million year-over-year. Founded in 2004, the avatar-based virtual world said it grew revenue primarily by increasing the sale of virtual currency, which members of its community use to purchase virtual goods like clothing, detailed facial features, and furniture.

Reports recently surfaced of Facebook's plans to give users of its most popular game -- Zynga's FarmVille -- the ability to buy virtual goods using "Pay With Facebook." FarmVille has roughly 75 million monthly active users and 25 million daily active users.

As a result, the sector has become increasingly attractive to investors of all stripes. Late last month, for example, mobile payments startup Boku raised a new round of funding from Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz's VC firm Andreessen Horowitz. San Francisco-based Boku lets you use your mobile phone number to pay bills in online applications such as Facebook games.