Sweden-based home retailer Ikea has made its first deal from its €50m ($70m) clean-tech corporate venturing fund set up in 2008.
Ikea GreenTech has invested €2m in local small-scale energy storage company Alelion Batteries.
Christian Ehrenborg, managing director of Ikea GreenTech since September last year, said: "We hope to be able to develop small-scale eco-efficient products for Ikea customers through this investment."
Ikea said it wanted to help customers live a more sustainable life at home and would make further investments in the next year.