The late, great Prince quietly funded solar energy startups before he died last year, and now that funding could help young clean-tech firms navigate the turbulent Trump era.
The pop musician anonymously invested around $250,000 in Powerhouse, a rare for-profit incubator and accelerator that links solar entrepreneurs with investors, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.
The Oakland, California-based incubator -- and efforts like it -- could give renewable energy innovations a crucial leg-up at a time when President Trump is seeking to slash funds for early-stage energy projects through the U.S. Department of Energy.
SEE ALSO:Meet the company vying to take on Tesla in clean energyTrump's proposed 2018 budget would eliminate the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), an initiative to support cutting-edge energy technologies. That program was funded to the tune of about $291 million that was enacted in fiscal year 2016.
Funding for the department's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy would shrink by 70 percent, to $636 million, compared to the enacted level during the previous year. Trump also wants to scrap the department's clean energy and auto loan programs, which backed Elon Musk's Tesla in 2009.
Via GiphyPrince-backed Powerhouse is also providing key funding just as venture capital investors, such as Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, are shifting away from the clean-tech sector.
Prince's secret solar funding wasn't his only anonymous act of philanthropy. He also supported #YesWeCode, an organization that educations urban youth on technology, and helped to raise awareness for the Black Lives Matter movement. The musician also donated to Green for All, an organization co-founded by community activist Van Jones in Oakland.
Prince joined the solar startup space after a 2011 conversation with Jones, who later became a green-jobs adviser to former President Obama and is now a commentator on CNN.
"He [Prince] asked, 'If I have a quarter-million dollars, what can I do with it?'" Jones told Bloomberg. "My wife said he should put solar panels all over Oakland."
Van Jones views a solar panel in Las Vegas, Nevada.Credit: ETHAN MILLER/Getty ImagesWith a grant from Prince, Jones brought in Solar Mosaic founder Billy Parish, who moved his rookie crowdfunding platform from Arizona to Oakland. There, Parish met Emily Kirsch, who was a green jobs campaigner at the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, the nonprofit that Jones co-founded. Kirsch worked with Solar Mosaic on its first four projects before co-founding Powerhouse.
So far, the incubator has helped 43 start-ups get on their feet, including firms like Avalon Battery, which makes energy storage systems with advanced rechargeable batteries; Mosaic, which provides loans for homeowners to install solar panels; and Solar Analytics, which offers energy data and analysis for residential solar owners.
Powerhouse startups have since generated $52 million in revenue, raised $287 million in capital, employed nearly 390 people, and have collectively led to the installation of 242 megawatts of solar power in the U.S. and abroad, according to the company's website.
Moreover, the incubator has helped make Oakland a hive for clean-tech finance, according to Bloomberg. Thirteen companies and six industry organizations are all working near Powerhouse's offices across the bay from San Francisco.
Prince's involvement in the fledgling solar project ended in April 2016, when he died from an accidental fentanyl overdose at age 57. Prince wanted his involvement to remain anonymous, Jones said.
TopicsSustainabilityDonald Trump
(责任编辑：焦點)
This app is giving streaming TV news a second tryElon Musk is serious about making the Tesla roadster flySamsung Galaxy S10+ to come with up to 1TB of storage, leak revealsMore Snap execs are out amid reports of 'inappropriate relationship'Balloon fanatic Tim Kaine is also, of course, very good at harmonicaThe U.S. will no longer have the final say on internet domain names
The National Telecommunications Information Admistration (NTIA) announced via 。 blog post。on Tuesday
...[详细]Chimp escape artists use branch to break out of their enclosure
Please support the #FreeTheChimp movement, everyone. A group of radical liberationist chimpanzees at
...[详细]'The Haunting of Hill House' renewed as anthology at Netflix
Netflix has conjured up a second season of last fall's buzzy, spooky drama The Haunting of Hill Hous
...[详细]A virtual reality 'Doctor Who' film is coming to a headset near you
If you've always wanted know what it's like to travel through space and time, then this is for you.
...[详细]Balloon fanatic Tim Kaine is also, of course, very good at harmonica
You know the old saying: the people want a president they can drink a beer with and they also want a
...[详细]'Black Mirror: Bandersnatch' is a choose your own adventure masterwork
This is a choose-your-own-adventure review of the brand new choose-your-own-adventure Netflix specia
...[详细]GPS apps like Waze, Apple Maps can leave drivers stranded in the snow
Rachael got out of her car, crying as she walked through a foot and a half of snow, looking for a pa
...[详细]Instagram users are losing millions of followers due to a bug
Several Instagram users on Wednesday woke up to find their follower counts significantly decreased.
...[详细]How Hyperloop One went off the rails
In December 2014, an engineer with the unlikely name Brogan BamBrogan was in the driveway of his cla
...[详细]How millennials can contribute to their financial futures while supporting their values
Millennials have made headlines for everything from their tendency to job-hop to their fondness for
...[详细]