Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers

High-tech venture capital powerhouse Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers said Wednesday it has created a $100-million fund to invest in start-up firms developing businesses based on the hot new Java technology for the World Wide Web. Kleiner Perkins--which since its 1972 founding has created a web of companies similar to Japan's networks of closely affiliated businesses--named 10 major technology companies, including International Business Machines Corp., Compaq Computer Corp.

Bing Gordon, the chief creative officer at Electronic Arts Inc., will leave the video game company after 26 years to become a partner at premier venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. As one of EA's first employees, Gordon helped shape the Redwood City, Calif., company's path to becoming the world's largest game publisher.

Al Gore is trying to bring more green to green technologies. Venture capital dollars are pouring into the business of fighting climate change, and Gore will get to invest millions as a partner with Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a prominent Silicon Valley venture firm. The Menlo Park firm, which was an early investor in Google Inc., Sun Microsystems Inc.

Silicon Valley venture capitalist John Doerr made his name and fortune with early investments in pioneering tech firms such as Sun Microsystems, Netscape and Google that went from scrappy start-ups to industry leaders. Now, Doerr and his firm, Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers, are placing big bets on an emerging sector he calls "green technology," which he believes could one day be at least as big as information technology or biotechnology.

Bill Joy, former chief scientist and co-founder of Sun Microsystems Inc., confirmed Tuesday that he had joined Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers as a partner to help invest the venture capital firm's $400-million fund. Joy said in an interview that he would work with entrepreneurs on Web services and software, wireless applications, supercomputing and materials to make mainstream energy devices more efficient. A UC Berkeley graduate, Joy helped develop the Java programming language.

Former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell has joined one of Silicon Valley's best-known venture capital firms. Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers on Wednesday said Powell joined the firm this month as a strategic limited partner, a position created for him. Powell will offer strategic advice to the firm and its portfolio companies, said John Doerr, a general partner at the Menlo Park, Calif., venture firm.

Zagat Survey, publisher of the Zagat restaurant guides, is set to announce today that it has received $31 million in funding from Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers, Massachusetts Institute of Technology media lab founder Nicholas Negroponte and others. New York-based Zagat will use the money to expand its Internet operations and Web site. Other investors include General Atlantic Partners, which led the round of funding; Allen & Co.; former Microsoft Corp.