Shopkick launched a new iPhone App that aids users in committing charitable acts when they visit brick-and-mortar retail stores. The company was recently founded "based on the belief that the intersection of mobile and physical retail is the next big opportunity in mobile to create consumer value."

Shopkick launched its mobile application CauseWorld, available from the App Store. The CauseWorld App works by allowing iPhone users to collect "karmas" by opening the app and checking-in when they come close to, or enter, retail stores. Karmas will then be funded out of nearly $500,000 that has been provided by Citigroup, Inc. and Kraft Foods so that the user can spend collected karmas on real world charitable actions like planting trees, feeding families in America or providing clean water to people in Sudan.

Shopkick is a new Menlo Park-based startup funded by Kleiner Perkins's iFund and Reid Hoffman, founder and Chairman of LinkedIn, investor in Facebook, and former PayPal executive.

The company said its goal is to "drastically improve the shopping experience of consumers by utilizing cell phones' location awareness, unprecedented personalization capabilities, and social/viral features."