Faribault-based Sage Electrochromics, Inc., announced Wednesday that it has received an $80 million investment from Saint-Gobain-a glass and construction material manufacturer based in France.

The strategic investment from Saint-Gobain adds to several previous investments and financial assistance that the company, which makes electronically tintable glass, has recently received.

Earlier this year, Sage got a $72 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy and a $31 million Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit. In addition, the State of Minnesota provided Sage with a $1 million forgivable loan and a $350,000 job training grant in March.

The company also secured $20 million in financing in early 2009 from Good Energies; Applied Ventures, LLC; NV Bekaert SA; and Bekaert Corporation.

Under terms of the most recent investment, Saint-Gobain will give its electrochromic glass intellectual property to Sage, which will manufacture glass for both companies' product lines at its facilities in Faribault. In addition, two senior members of Saint-Gobain's management team, Jean-Pierre Floris and Francois-Xavier Moser, will join Sage's board of directors.

Sage will remain an independent company and will market its SageGlass products in North America. Saint-Gobain will distribute the SageGlass technology under the Quantum Glass brand in Europe.

A portion of the new funding will be used for Sage's $135 million, 300,000-square-foot manufacturing facility, which it started construction on last month next to its headquarters in Faribault.

The project is expected to create 160 additional full-time green manufacturing and technology jobs, and more than 200 construction jobs. The company plans to begin shipments from the new facility in mid-2012.