by Michelle Lang

Woburn-based gaming startup 8D World Inc. has raised a $5.25 million Series B round of funding, backed by Japanese venture capital firm Mizuho Capital, Chinese firm Gobi Partners and Boston investor Spark Capital.

8D World develops Wiz World Online, an online virtual world designed to let players interact in spoken English with computer-generated characters that correct their word choice and pronunciation. The product has spiraled into several other related offerings, including Wiz Kid English, Rocket English and Cambridge English for Young Learners, all geared toward English-as-a-foreign/second-language learners.

Alex Wang, CEO of 8D World, noted in a press release today that the company plans to use the funding to expand its product offerings to cover more educational content and grow its distribution network.

The Series A financing that 8D World rounded up in 2009 brought in $7 million from Spark Capital and Gobi Partners, in addition to board members Alex Finkelstein of Spark Capital and Lawrence Tse of Gobi Partners. At that time, 8D World noted that it hopes to produce revenue through subscriptions, microtransactions and sponsorships.