GE and a group of venture-capital partners have invested $55 million in technology companies as a part of the GE ecomagination Challenge. These investments represent the first of several rounds of funding that GE plans to place.
GE says the program is aimed at supporting companies that will "develop and commercialize technologies vital to helping build the next-generation power grid." These technologies include energy storage, utility security, energy- management software and electric-vehicle charging services.
Some of the companies that received investments include energy-management systems and software firms JouleX, Consert, Scientific Conservation and OPOWER, as well as FMC-Tech Ltd. and Sentient Energy, which develop intelligent sensor technologies.
