GE Launches Phase II Multi Million Euro Open Innovation Challenge

January 28th, 2011 by Science Business

GE (NYSE: GE) today launched the second phase of its ecomagination Challenge, seeking partnerships with European researchers and innovators. Called Powering Your Home, GE has set aside a $200 million fund to invest globally into promising start-ups and breakthrough ideas for home energy creation, management and use.

GE and its venture capital partners will also be awarding five cash prizes of $100,000 to the most innovative ideas received. Proposals are sought in two broad categories of the eco-home: energy efficiency, including management software, appliances and air conditioning; and renewable power, including solar, wind, hydro and biomass.

GE will be accepting submissions for Powering Your Home until March 1, 2011

Selected ecomagination Challenge entrants will be offered the opportunity to develop a commercial relationship with GE through:

• Investment: the $200 million capital pledge of GE and its partners will be invested globally into promising start-ups and ideas. $55 million has already been committed in Phase I

• Validation: evaluation of entrant’s business strategy through in-depth discussions with GE‘s technical and commercial teams
• Distribution: exploration of partnership opportunities with GE to scale a business and create global reach
• Development: leveraging of GE‘s technical infrastructure and GE Global Research Centers to accelerate technology and product development
• Growth: exploration of opportunities for utilizing existing GE customer relationships for an improved go-to-market strategy

The Challenge, launched in collaboration with leading venture capital firms RockPort Capital, KPCB, Foundation Capital, and Emerald Technology Ventures; and with UK not-for-profit, Carbon Trust, is part of GE’s ecomagination business strategy, and was formed as a global commitment to build innovative clean energy technologies and help fund the most promising ideas.

In Europe, GE is working in partnership with Science|Business, a London- and Brussels-based media company, to drive entries from Europe’s brightest innovators and researchers. Together, Science|Buisness and GE will organize a series of events across Europe hosted by leading research institutions and Universities. The first event will be hosted by ETH Zurich on Thursday, February 3rd, 2011 as part of the Academic Enterprise conference. Future events are planned in London, Munich, Stockholm, Paris and Warsaw.

The challenge is part of GE’s ecomagination initiative, a global commitment to build innovative clean energy technologies and will help fund the most promising ideas.

GE recently appointed an ecomagination leader for Europe, Middle East and Africa, Horst-Tore Land. Speaking at the July 2010 launch event of ecomagination in Munich, Land said, “ecomagination is GE’s commitment to bring to market more energy-efficient solutions to meet market demands. Today, we are expanding our ecomagination initiative to include open innovation and collaboration with the best technology minds in the world. Working together, we can help to solve our energy challenges on both the supply and demand sides.”

For more information please visit the Science|Business website.