Shopping for Cleantech at Ikea

I just read the coolest article about Ikea, the Swedish furniture giant. It looks like soon there will be even more to look forward to at their stores than giant platters of meatballs and mac and cheese.

That's right - Sweden's Ikea may need to super-size its shopping carts. The furniture retailer unveiled an investment group today to put €50 million into cleantech startups over the next five years, with the eventual goal of seeing solar panels and other clean technologies on sale in its stores or used by Ikea suppliers.

Ikea GreenTech plans to focus on five areas — solar panels, alternative light sources, product materials, energy efficiency, and water saving and purification. The group said the investments will be made in companies that offer commercial prospects within a four to five year horizon.

"We're already talking to companies," Johan Stenebo, managing director of Ikea GreenTech, told the Cleantech Group. He said Ikea is likely to make its first investments this year. "That's certainly our aim to make happen."

Stenebo said the cleantech products will follow the same guidelines as the company's other products.

...