By: Senior staff writer – Easton Ellsworth

Remember when we talked about Facebook’s colossal virtual economy? Well, a new competitor in the virtual marketplace space has emerged: PlaySpan.

In a series B financing round, investors Easton Capital Group, Novel TMT Ventures, STIC and Menlo Ventures plunked $16.8 million down to bolster PlaySpan.

Founded by young Arjun Mehta in 2006 and led today by his father Karl Mehta, PlaySpan is like the Amazon plus PayPal of virtual good purchasing and selling in over 200 video games.

So you’re playing a game and spend $5 inside of it to get a customized avatar or unlock special aspects of gameplay. PlaySpan is a company that could manage that $5 payment.

In 2008 alone, people have spent more than $50 million via PlaySpan, and the company has seen at least seven figures in revenue.

The new funding round brings PlaySpan’s total to $23.3 million from its existing investors.

Now that’s some serious money – especially for a game-oriented tech startup.

Which goes to show that there’s still lots of money to be made, even in this dark economic climate.

And that no matter how young you are, if you’ve got a great idea and a good revenue model, you can succeed in the startup world.