Android gaming is growing by leaps and bounds, due in no small part to the prevalent use of free games supplemented with advertising. Mobile application/advertising platform Tapjoy knows this: that’s why they set up a  fund for aspiring developers, helping them publish their apps to both Tapjoy’s directory and the Android Market. The company announced that to date, they’ve helped publish a whopping 130 Android games. To be fair, the hits are few and far between, but that’s par for the course with indie developers.

If you haven’t heard of Tapjoy themselves, you’ve almost certainly heard of a few of their affiliated titles. The Android port of Duke Nukem 3D, Gun Bros, Santa’s Village and more all use funds and services from Tapjoy. In addition to initial funding, the company provides platform sorting tools, marketing advice and a spot in their proprietary app market. The company also publishes a handful of games under its own label. Then they sell advertising in the (mostly free) games, matching vendors with the target audience for each title to maximize revenue.

The fund was initially set up with $5,000,000 to split between worthy applicants, and Tapjoy is still accepting applications. Developers, if you’d like to be a part of the Android fund, head over to www.tapjoy.com/androidfund to apply. And in the interest of informing ambitious devs, I’ll add that the company offers its services for iOS and Windows Phone 7 as well.