iFund
The iFund is a US$200 million capital fund. Developers may enter into equity deals for the creation of applications, services, and components for Apple Inc.'s iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad platform. It is being offered and managed by venture capital company Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers (KPCB).[1]
The iFund was announced by KPCB partner John Doerr at the same time as the iPhone OS SDK, at Apple's iPhone Roadmap event on March 6, 2008 in Cupertino, California.[1][2] The iFund is managed by KPCB partner Matt Murphy in collaboration with partners Chi-Hua Chien, John Doerr, Bill Joy, Randy Komisar, Ellen Pao, and Ted Schlein. Apple provides KPCB with market insight and support.[3] On March 31, 2010 KPCB announced the fund has been doubled.
On September 15, 2008, KPCB launched a blog to share perspectives on the iFund.
In December 2008 the confidential iFund application data was accidentally published on the web by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers’ former hosting provider, Meteora Technologies Group, in a database dump file. The file was indexed by Google and coincidentally discovered by a fruux staffer. The file contained Applications from 588 companies including detailed information from each of these companies, like founder bios, financial ratios and business models.[4][5]
Portfolio companies
- Path (social network)
- shopkick (acquired)
- Ngmoco (acquired)
- SessionM (acquired)
- Drawbridge (acquired)
- Shazam (acquired)
- Booyah
- Crittercism[6][7]
References
- ^ a b Olsen, Stefanie (March 6, 2008). "Kleiner's iFund to invest in 'Apple entrepreneurs'". CNET. Archived from the original on January 29, 2013. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
- ^ "Apple March 6 Event". Apple Inc. March 6, 2008. Retrieved March 9, 2008.
- ^ "iFund Initiative". Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Archived from the original on March 10, 2008. Retrieved March 24, 2008.
- ^ Arrington, Michael (December 3, 2008). "588 Kleiner Perkins iFund Applications Accidentally Published To Web". TechCrunch. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
- ^ "588 Kleiner Perkins iFund developers accidentally leaked to Web". ZDNet. Archived from the original on December 6, 2008. Retrieved December 5, 2008.
- ^ Empson, Rip (July 13, 2011). "Crittercism Raises $1.2 Million From Kleiner Perkins And Google Ventures For App Support". TechCrunch. Retrieved July 13, 2011.
- ^ Gannes, Liz (July 12, 2011). "The Google Start-Up Network: Google Ventures Invests in AngelPad Companies". AllThingsDigital=2011-07-12.
External links