Nike is to set up a sustainable venture capital arm in an effort to cut costs and promote green commerce.
The sports clothing company’s Sustainable Business & Innovation Lab is to back startups focused on alternative energy and more efficient manufacturing approaches, Bloomberg Businessweek reports.
Nike has hired venture capital and private equity managers to run the lab, but has not yet revealed the project's budget. The lab is yet to make any investments and any that are made will have to be approved by management, according to Businessweek.
In August, Nike promised to eliminate all hazardous chemicals across its entire supply chain, and the entire life-cycle of its products, by 2020, bowing to pressure from Greenpeace.
Nike’s announcement came five weeks into the pressure group’s “Detox Challenge,” which, in Greenpeace’s words, targets a “toxic free future.”
Its decision came after a similar announcement by rival Puma in July and around a fortnight before a similar commitment by Adidas.
