G.E. and its venture capital partners will invest $63 million in 10 companies in household communications, solar and energy efficiency as part of its $200 million “Ecomagination” funding program.
The amount represents the second funding round of G.E.’s “Ecomagination Challenge” launched in July 2010 to invite innovators to submit ideas which G.E. could help finance.
The second phase of the challenge seeks to fund household energy efficiency innovations.
The $63 million in investments and commercial partnerships in phase two include 10 new concepts from consumer clean tech sectors including solar, communications and software and building efficiency.
The 10 companies are communications and software companies Ember, Hara, On-Ramp Wireless, Viridity Energy and WiTricity, and building efficiency companies Nuventix, Project Frog and VPhase.
Two solar systems companies, GMZ Energy and SunRun, were also included. G.E.’s venture capital partners include Emerald Technology Ventures, Foundation Capital, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and RockPort Capital and Carbon Trust.
To date, G.E. and its partners have either invested or committed to invest $134 million in the home energy and power grid technology.
An additional commitment of $20 million to commercialize pilot projects discovered through the challenge will also be released, according to Mark Vachon, vice president of Ecomagination.
G.E.’s green business-related activities reportedly earned for it $18 billion in revenues, bundled in its Ecomagination product line in 2009.
