Nike is setting up the Sustainable Business & Innovation Lab, a venture-capital subdivision that will focuse on alternative energies and more efficient approaches to manufacturing. The startup also will seek out companies that promote healthy lifestyles.

Photo: www.nikebiz.com

The innovation is to help Nike supply constraints. The company has also lowered expenses amid rising costs for raw materials, labor and transportation. Nike’s lab will make equity investments in young companies focused on alternative energies as well as finance partnerships with government and non-government organizations.

It’s not known how much money Nike will spend on the project, says Bloomberg Business Week. The effort is in its early stages and hasn’t made investments, which would need to be approved by management, said Mary Remuzzi, a spokeswoman for the Beaverton, Oregon-based company.

Due to new resources, Nike may be reducing the cost of its products and focus on the environmentally conscious customers. Earlier this year, Nike introduced shoes that were made of recycled magazine pages. Recently the company also accepted the ‘Detox’ challenge from Greenpeace.

For the new lab, Nike has hired venture-capital and private-equity managers to run the new operation. Among them are Avi Sahi, who was hired last December after working at the buyout firm Perseus LLC and John Hull, a long-time venture capitalist, also is working as a partner.

According to its website, Nike is to add more staff to the effort, including a principal to evaluate investment opportunities and conduct exploratory research.