PapayaMobile Raises $18 Million for a Mobile Game Network

Papaya Mobile, which is building a mobile social gaming network on Android, has raised $18 million in a second round of funding.

The round was led by Keytone Ventures of China and DCM, and will be used for expanding in the U.S., Europe and Asia as it tries to build a hub where it connects both game-makers and players on the phone. The company, which is headquartered in Beijing and has offices in Menlo Park, Calif., has built a platform that can host mobile games on behalf of mobile developers who can tap into its social network.

So far, it has attracted 15 million users, and since launching the platform last year, has gained access to 350 applications. Games on the network include Paper Toss and a bunch of branded games, like Papaya Blackjack, Papaya Pet and Papaya Farm.

In a similar vein, Japanese-based Gree acquired San Francisco-based OpenFeint last week for $104 million, plus invested additional capital for growth of the OpenFeint platform. And, last year, Japanese-based DeNA purchased San Francisco-based Ngmoco, which is also working on a mobile social network on Android.