Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers Forms $600 Million KPCB XII Fund, Announces $100 Million Greentech Initiative

MENLO PARK, Calif., Feb. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) -- a leader in providing relationship and venture capital SM services to entrepreneurs -- announced the formation of its most recent fund, KPCB XII.

KPCB XII plans to invest $600 million over roughly a three-year period, backing entrepreneurs and innovation in information technology, life sciences and other fast-growing industries. Ongoing initiatives include mobile and web services, personalized medicine and medical devices, and communications and semiconductor technologies. In addition, today KPCB is announcing a new $100 million initiative in "green technologies."

For five years, KPCB has quietly backed greentech entrepreneurial ventures, including Lilliputian (battery technology), Miasole (solar cell technology), and a revolutionary solid oxide fuel cell maker. Two other ventures wish to remain "stealth."

"Entrepreneurs are passionate about pursuing clean and affordable water, power and transportation. We're seeing exciting, sustainable and scalable ventures, including biofuels (like ethanol), energy storage and energy conservation," said John Doerr. "Greentech could be the largest economic opportunity of the 21st century. Disruptive innovations are possible because of recent advances in chemistry, genetics, and material science. American and world leaders are calling for alternatives to $60-a-barrel oil, and entrepreneurs are rising to the challenge."

KPCB XII partners include KPCB XI partners Brook Byers, John Denniston, John Doerr, Juliet Flint, Joe Lacob, Ray Lane, Aileen Lee, Matt Murphy, Ajit Nazre, Ph.D, Ted Schlein, Risa Stack, Ph.D, and Trae Vassallo. New partners added since the KPCB XI fund closed include Bill Joy, Randy Komisar, Ying Lee, Dana Mead, Jr., Ellen Pao, and Beth Seidenberg, M.D.

"The pace of innovation is accelerating, as three billion consumers enter the global marketplace," said Brook Byers. "We are privileged to invest this fund in these exciting times. Entrepreneurs will make major improvements in health care, including in personalized medicine, medical devices and therapeutics."

Ray Lane added, "Entrepreneurs and KPCB partners are building outstanding companies, by working closer than ever, typically with more than one partner per venture. We greatly appreciate the long-standing support of our limited partners. Their steadfast commitment enables us to be patient, diligent and dedicated, and to take bigger risks." KPCB's institutional investors have remained largely unchanged over the past 20 years.

Since its founding in 1972, KPCB has backed entrepreneurs in over 450 ventures, including AOL, Align Technology, Amazon.com, Citrix, Compaq Computer, Electronic Arts, Genentech, Genomic Health, Google, IDEC Pharmaceuticals, Intuit, Juniper Networks, Netscape, Lotus, LSI Logic, Sun Microsystems, Symantec, Verisign and Xilinx. More than 150 of the firm's portfolio companies have gone public. Many other ventures have achieved success through mergers and acquisitions.

Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers

CONTACT: Jennifer Graham, +1-415-591-4016, or jennifer_graham@sfo.bm.com,for Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers