The mobile app space is rich with opportunities for startups to disrupt, grow and capture both mind share and market share. Our mobile phones are with us almost every minute of our waking day (and are usually not far off when we’re asleep), so it’s not surprising that investors have been pouring millions into the hottest mobile startups. But which investors have been successful in picking the winners? We set out to unearth some data.

The charts below weigh up the leading investors in the field based on the success of their mobile portfolios, using their apps’ market share (reach) as a proxy for success. One chart looks only at firms that invested in companies’ Series A financing, highlighting those that were able to pick the winners early on. The second chart examines investors that participated in any funding round, early or late.

Notes: (a) to be fair, only the active portfolio is included (exited companies such as Facebook, Instagram or YouTube – who would undoubtedly make a dent – are not included in the data); (b) data is based on January 2013 US iPhone market share numbers as listed on Onavo Insights (Android or international markets not included); (c) firms with just one relevant portfolio company were not included.

While we don’t purport that cumulative market share is the metric LPs should focus on, the analysis definitely serves to highlight the key investors in the space, and the difference between the early birds and the later stage investors.

You can click any icon on the charts to learn more about that app’s usage. If you’d like to embed a chart in your own site or blog, refer to the code at the bottom of each chart.