Linden Lab, the publisher of the popular virtual world "Second Life," announced Tuesday an $11 million round of funding led by Globespan Capital Partners.

The new funding, which comes on the heels of an $8 million round in October 2004, came from Globespan as well as Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, Lotus founder Mitch Kapor, the Omidyar Network and Catamount Ventures.

"Second Life" is one of today's most talked-about virtual worlds, and currently has more than 165,000 users. It is an open-ended "metaverse" that allows anyone to join and participate for free and to create and own any kind of clothing, vehicles, buildings or other objects at no cost. The company makes its money by charging players use fees for land they buy and build on.