Shazam started in 2002 as a mobile music discovery company. The company first gained an immense amount of popularity when launching an iPhone application. The Shazam application has been downloaded about 50 million times on the iPhone, Google Android, Symbian, BlackBerry, etc. Shazam has a database of over 8 million songs on their database which goes back to the 1950’s. Shazam is a private company that is based in London, England.

When you hear a song on the radio or on your laptop, you can Tag it using the Shazam application. Shazam will tell you the name of the song, give you a link to buy the music on Amazon or iTunes, and allow you to tweet what you are listening to.

The latest news with the company is that Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers has invested in them. Kleiner Perkins made the investment through their iFund financial arm which is intended for iPhone application developers. Shazam previously raised $12.3 million in funding from DN Capital and Acacia Capital.

Shazam is planning to launch a service that will connect with concert tickets for artists that have been tagged by the app. So far Shazam has been cash-flow positive.

According to an SEC filing, Booyah! has raised a second round of funding. Booyah designs iPhone applications and games that allow users to earn points when achieving real life situations such as going to the gym and learning new recipes. The achievements are then shared with other friends.

Booyah is based in Palo Alto, California and previously raised $4.5 million in funding from Kleiner Perkins. The SEC document did not list who participated in this round of funding.

V-Vehicle is an automotive startup company based in San Diego, California.  The vehicle company has raised $62.25 million and plans to raise an additional $4 million.  The companies involved in the $62.25 million are Google Ventures and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.  V-Vehicle will be building cars in the northeastern region of Louisiana.

V-Vehicle raised a previous round from T. Boone Pickens and has former Mazda design chief Tom Matano on their staff.  V-Vehicle recently procured a facility that was owned by Guide Corporation.  And Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal was at the announcement ceremony of the plant opening.  Jindal offered V-Vehicle $67 million as part ofa startup incentive package.  Local governments provided an additional $15 million.  V-Vehicle is aiming to raise about $50 million between equity and loans.

David Drummond, Google’s SVP of Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer is listed as one of the Board of Directors at V-Vehicle.  Former Oracle executive and founding CEO of V-Vehicle Frank Varasano had invested $100 million of his own money into the company.

Kleiner Perkins partners John Doerr and Ray Lane also have board seats in V-Vehicle.  James Davison, a trucking company leader is also listed as an investor.

In Louisiana, the company plans on developing a “green” car.  Tesla should beware, they’re not the only ones in the electric car game.

[via Xconomy/alarm:clock]

Booyah is an iPhone application development startup company that is based in Palo Alto, Calif.  The company was founded by Keith Lee, Brian Morrisroe and Sam Christiansen, who have all had some sort of gaming experience.  Lee was one of the head developers for the Diablo III franchise.  Booyah recently announced that they have raised $4.5 million in Series A funding from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers’s iFund initiative.

“We were immediately compelled by the promise of Booyah and the background of the founders,” stated Kleiner Perkins partner Matt Murphy in a press release.  “The iFund was created to help build the most promising and innovative businesses that utilize the discrete capabilities of the iPhone and iPod touch. Booyah is a terrific example.”

Last month Kleiner Perkins invested in Ngmoco, another iPhone gaming company.  Booyah has not announced when their product will be launching, but it is expected to revolve around MMO.  Booyah currently has beta sign ups on their website.

iZumi Bio is a biotechnology company that focuses on cellular reprogramming and stem cell research. iZumi is based in the Bay Area of California and started in 2007 with backing from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers along with Highland Capital Partners. Now the company has signed an agreement with Kyoto University’s Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CIRA). CIRA will exchange part of their pluripotent stem cell lines with iZumi as part of the agreement. iZumi and CIRA will then determine which methods of cell lines are appropriate for drug screening and development.

Pluripotent stem cells tend to be embryonic which is different from adult stem cells. Inducing embryonic stem cells to perform certain functions is crucial for the advancement of stem cell research as a whole, but anti-abortion activists believes that this is a violation of human life. Induced pluripotent stem cells are made from adult stem cells, but have embryonic pluripotent characteristics so this would enable researchers to further conduct studies while avoiding ethical issues with anti-abortionists.

“The partnership between these two leading organizations is a critical step in furthering this research and turning stem cell research into therapeutic realities sooner,” stated former Vice President and Kleiner Perkins partner Al Gore.

[via Biz Times]

Zynga is a social network game-making machine.  The company has just raised $29 million from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Institutional Venture Partners, Union Square Ventures, Avalon Ventures, and Foundry Group.  Union, Avalon, and Foundry were all previous investors.  Zynga is based out of San Francisco, Calif.

Zynga was started by Mark Pincus.  Through this round of funding, Kleiner Perkins partner and former chief creative officer of Electronic Arts Bing Gordon will join Zynga’s board of directors.  Zynga’s last round of funding was $10 million in January 2008.  Reid Hoffman and Peter Thiel of the PayPal mafia were a couple of investors involved in the last round of funding.

Zynga currently has about 18 million uniques per month.  Zynga’s revenue model is advertising and selling game add-ons.  Zynga’s top games on Facebook are Poker, Blackjack, Scramble, Word Twist, PathWords, Sudoku, Sea Wars, Mafia Wars, Dragon Wars, Triumph, Attack!, My Heroes Ability, Ghost Racer, Dope Wars, and YoVille.  Zynga recently acquired YoVille.

Related Links:
Zynga

Mevio, a video website that was founded by Ron Bloom and Adam Curry started the company originally to podcast.  About 4 years later, the founders decided to rename their former company, Podshow to Mevio.  Mevio hosts original videos and will allow others to syndicate their content.

This idea impressed Crosslink Capital, Sequoia Capital, Kleiner Perkins, DAG Ventures, and Sherpalo Ventures because these companies gave Mevio $15 million in Series C.  All of these VC firms were previous investors as well.  To date, Mevio has raised about $38 million. 

Some of Mevio’s clients include Coca-Cola, Anheuser Busch, and Hewlett Packard.  Mevio has over 1 million hours of video content.  Mevio also self-proclaims themselves as a leading site to discover new artists and free use licensing for original music. 

Related Links:
Mevio

Information Source:
Silicon Alley Insider