Announcement
September 12, 2007
Google.org launches $10 million request for investment proposals to advance sustainable transportation solutions
Since Google.org launched the RechargeIT initiative in June as part of our
efforts to stop global warming (http://www.google.org/recharge/),
a lot has happened in the world of plug-in vehicles. Automakers have made key
announcements about future plans for plug-ins. Our grantee the Electric
Power Research Institute (EPRI), along with Natural Resources Defense Council
(NRDC), released a comprehensive assessment (http://www.epri-reports.org/)
that found that widespread use of plug-in hybrids in the U.S. could dramatically
reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The charge for electrified transportation
is heating up, and we couldn't be more excited. But consumers still can't buy
plug-in vehicles – and that's a problem. It's time for us to put some money
where our mouth is and help accelerate mass commercialization of plug-in vehicles.
Today, Google.org has issued a request for proposals to the tune of $10 million
in order to advance sustainable transportation solutions (http://www.google.org/recharge/rfp/).
We are inviting entrepreneurs and companies to show us their best ideas on how
they can contribute to this important cause. We need catalytic investments to
support technologies, products and services that are critical to accelerating
plug-in vehicle commercialization. That is why we have structured this RFP to
offer investment dollars to for-profit companies to promote social and environmental
change. The severity of global warming requires solutions from NGOs, governments,
individuals and (very importantly) the private sector. We have already made $1
million in grants to a group of outstanding non-profit organizations (see http://www.google.org/recharge/partners.html),
and want to expand our impact by spurring innovation in the private sector. While
$10 million is a fraction of the total investment needed to transform our transportation
sector, we hope this RFP will help catalyze a broader response. We need
the automakers to bring these cars to market, but plug-in vehicles also need
an entire ecosystem of companies flourish.
We realize that this type of open call for proposals is not the usual model for
investment, but we wanted to use a process that was open to new ideas and new
entrants. Part of our goal is to get as many people as possible to work on solutions
to our vehicle emissions challenges. We welcome and expect to receive submissions
from a wide variety of companies – from cutting edge battery technologies to
innovative service businesses – and from companies of all sizes. We also encourage
participants from all over the world to submit proposals. This is a global challenge,
and it will take all of us to solve it.
This open RFP process is a new approach to mission-focused investing, and we're
interested to see what we can learn from it, both in terms of opportunities and
gaps that exist in this space today, as well as ways that we can improve on this
solicitation process for future investments. Our focus on learning is the primary
reason we decided to narrow this first RFP to investments in private companies,
rather than a combination of grants and investments.
We will continue to make grants as part of RechargeIT and other programs, but
we're excited today to announce our first foray into investments. To learn more,
read the RFP at http://www.google.org/recharge/rfp/.
For photos of Google founders Larry Page and Sergei Brin with RechargeIT vehicles,
visit the Press Center at http://www.google.com/press/images.html#org.
For broadcast-standard video and other multimedia files visit the Multimedia
Press Room at http://www.thenewsmarket.com/google.
Google.org is the philanthropic arm of Google Inc. Google.org aspires
to use the power of information to help people better their lives. We are an
experiment in active philanthropy. In addition to financial resources, we are
able to engage Google’s entire family of people and partners, information technologies
and other resources to address three major growing global problems: climate change
(http://www.google.org/climate.html),
global public health (http://www.google.org/publichealth.html),
and economic development and poverty (http://www.google.org/development.html).
