The teenager targeted online community and virtual world Gaia Online has completed an $11 million Series C round of venture funding, according to a statement made by the company.

Gaia Online received the funding from the firm Institutional Venture Partners. It will use the additional resources to better position itself to take advantage of the growing teenage virtual world audience. According to Gaia Online’s statement, internet market research firm eMarketer predicts that this market will grow from 8.2 million users in 2007 to 20 million by 2011. Gaia Online currently boasts five million unique users per month.

Norm Fogelsong, a General Partner with Institutional Venture Partners, said of the funding round, “Gaia Online is one of the most exciting companies that we have seen in the online social community space. It is a privilege to be involved with such a strong management team, one that is leading the way in virtual goods transactions.”

CEO of Gaia Online Craig Sherman added, “At Gaia Online we are focused on bringing Gaians experiences they will not get anywhere else, With this capital, we are excited to continue to deliver on this mission, while growing and developing new site elements to support the rapidly increasing interest in Gaia Online.”