KKR Execs Join Mayfield To Lead govWorks.com –

In the second venture commitment by the buyout firm’s executive team in recent months, partners at Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. co-led govWorks.com’s $18.4 million second round, which closed Oct. 29.

Mayfield Fund of Menlo Park, Calif., served as co-lead on the financing that also included commitments from the New York City Investment Fund, Hearst Interactive Media, a division of The Hearst Corp., Sapient and Vignette Corp., said Jose Feliciano, chief operating officer at New York-based govWorks.com.

“From the outset our strategy was to have a bi-coastal funding group,” Feliciano said. “We wanted a strong West coast player with Internet building experience, and a New York presence.”

govWorks.com developed a Web-based program through which citizens can interact with local government agencies. Thus far, the company has developed govWorks.com, its core product, and two additional applications – govPages and govCast.

govWorks.com is a transaction engine that allows constituents to pay taxes and parking tickets, as well as secure various permits over the Internet. Current test sites are operating in Springfield, Mass., and Stamford, Conn. Additional beta tests will begin in a number of other cities this fall, with national roll out scheduled for early winter.

The first developmental application provides users with a directory of contact information for local government officials and agencies. Feliciano said the site endeavors to ease constituent communication with and access to local organizations by offering a searchable database of e-mail and telephone numbers.

Launched in partnership with broadcast companies, govCast has entered initial deployment. The service acts as an information hub with a searchable archive of video on government. The company works closely with C-Span currently, but Feliciano said plans call for the company to begin working with other distributors.

“In the future, we have contemplated striking partnerships with networks and municipal channel partners,” he said.

Primarily, the proceeds from the financing will serve as working capital subsidizing the company’s technology development efforts. A substantial portion of the capital also will be spent on marketing and content aggregation. Feliciano said the site would seek to include educational content on government, including information on the mechanisms of government and citizen’s rights.

Following the transaction, Clifton Robbins of KKR and Mike Levinthal of Mayfield joined the board of directors.