San Francisco-based ngmoco, which is short for “Next-Generation Mobile Company” (we are partial to the name because it also has “moco” in it), has received its first round of funding from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) with participation from Maples Investments. The amount was not disclosed. Bing Gordon, KPCB partner and former chief creative officer of Electronic Arts (NSDQ: ERTS), will join the ngmoco board. The founder of the startup is also an ex-EA: Neil Young is the founder and CEO, and was one of the rock star game development executives who was responsible for top-selling games, such as The Lord of the Rings titles to The Sims 2.

SEE ALSO: EA Exec Neil Young Leaves For iPhone Game Start-Up Ngmoco

ngmoco is developing games for the iPhone platform, though no specific games gave been released yet. In March 2008, KPCB launched the iFund, a $100 million vehicle for investing in iPhone-related start-ups. This investment is presumably out of that fund. More details in release.