Thursday, March 6,2008 @ 4:15pm
[U] VC firm intros $100m iFund for iPhone apps
Venture capitalist firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers today announced the iFund, a money pool for developers looking to start businesses based on the newly announced SDK for the iPhone and iPod touch. The fund has a total of $100 million to distribute between potential candidates and is meant to spark the next wave of development. The size "should be enough to start a few Amazons or Yahoos," according to the VC firm's John Doerr.
More details of the conditions behind attracting money from iFund are expected soon, though the plan is not expected to involve automatic grants and will likely be limited to US firms.
Update: Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers set up the iFund in order to invest in small start-up businesses, with the goal of helping them become standalone, public companies. KPCB's areas of focus are location-based services, social networking, mCommerce, communication, and entertainment.
"A revolutionary new platform is a rare and prized opportunity for entrepreneurs, and that's exactly what Apple has created with iPhone and iPod touch," said John Doerr, partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. "We think several significant new companies will emerge as this new platform evolves, and the iFund will empower them to realize their full potential."
"Developers are already bursting with ideas for the iPhone and iPod touch, and now they have the chance to turn those ideas into great companies with the help of world-class venture capitalists," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "We can't wait to start working with Kleiner Perkins and the companies they fund through this new initiative."