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Mr. Murphy, a venture capitalist overseeing the iFund, is aiming to back iPhone Apps based startups. The investment fund was created earlier this year by by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers to invest in start-ups specializing in iPhone applications. Whrrl is one of the startups that were backed by the iFund. They are a  mobile location-based service where users can be tracked on their iPhone by friends, who can also critique and share their favorite restaurants or events.

Mr. Murphy isn’t new to this mobile phone start up funding. He has been focused on finding hot mobile start-ups for the last 7 years. But the iPhone has made his job easier and raised their hopes for tapping into the potential of iPhone Apps. They have recieved 2,500 business plans for iPhone based start-ups already and invested in four so far.

These start-ups include Ngmoco and Gogii, a company called iControl that makes it easier to monitor homes while away and a soon-to-be-announced company that creates virtual worlds that one enters through the phone. Gogii, Ngmoco and an unnamed company are expected to begin selling products in the fall. While IControl’s applications are likely to come early next year.

Investments in iFund companies can range from a modest $100,000 to $15 million. But on average, Kleiner has invested $5 million to $8 million in each of the five companies. With devices getting more sophisticated and data speeds faster, Kleiner expects that more people will use their mobile phones the way they do computers — for games, shopping and watching video. “We finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel,” Mr. Murphy said.

[ Image Credit : The New York Times ]