GE bets $63 million on 10 home energy tech innovators

GE and its funding partners will invest $63 million in 10 innovative home energy technology companies.

The investment is the second round of funding as part of the $200 million “GE ecomagination Challenge” to find better ways to use, manage and conserve energy. The second phase, “Powering Your Home,” was launched in January.

So far, GE and its partners have invested or committed to invest $134 million in the home energy and power grid technology developers announced as winners of its Innovation Challenge. The challenge has also produced 22 new commercial partnerships and resulted in the acquisition of FMC-Tech, a smart-grid technology company spotlighted during the first phase.

Mark Vachon, vice president of ecomagination said the challenge has “changed how we do business at GE — we learned that accelerating open innovation across public, private and national borders can drive shared value for the company and its partners.”

The latest $63 million in investments and commercial partnerships include 10 new concepts from consumer cleantech sectors, including solar, communications and software, and building efficiency. Companies receiving backing include:

• Boston-based Ember (communications and software)
• GMZ Energy of Waltham, Massachusetts (solar systems and services)
• Hara of San Mateo, California (communications and software)
• Nuventix, headquartered in Austin, Texas (building efficiency)
• On-Ramp Wireless of San Diego (communications and software)
• San Francisco-based Project Frog (building efficiency)
• SunRun, also of San Francisco (residential solar systems and services)
• Viridity Energy, based in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania (communications and software)
• VPhase of Manchester, UK (building efficiency)
• Watertown, Massachusetts-based WiTricity (communications and software)

Another five Innovation Award winners will each receive a $100,000 grant to further develop their technology. They include:

• E.quinox of London, UK (solar and home solar financing)
• PlotWatt, based in Durham, North Carolina (communications and software)
• Pythagoras Solar, headquartered in San Mateo, California (building efficiency)
• Suntulit of Freemont, California (building efficiency)
• Xergy, based in Georgetown, Delaware (building efficiency)

Later this year, GE and its investment partners plan to launch a region-specific ecomagination Challenge in China, and establish a $5 million seed fund in Europe with Carbon Trust to help early-stage ideas get off the ground.