Senior Congress leader M Veerappa Moily’ son Harsha Moily is all set to launch a $200 million ClimateTech VC Fund and claims his sole focus is on bringing solutions to combat climate change.
The US-educated and trained management expert in his 40s added that politics is closed chapter for him now.
"I am from a political family, and felt a sense of obligation to the people to whom we are so indebted to. So I tried my hand at politics, but after a few years, I have realized that I am not meant for it, even though I still believe it’s the highest calling," Harsha Moily said while speaking to Network18.
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"Having over 25 years of experience in the business world, of which 12 years in the USA and UK, and 10 years as an entrepreneur, I feel I am better equipped to tackle the toughest problems in a role of a Venture Capitalist. So the next 20 years will be focused on Climate Change and hope to live long enough to see that I have made a quantifiable impact on Climate Change," Harsha Moily added.
Moily said that his ClimateTech VC fund will focus on four verticals -- green buildings, energy storage, sustainable agriculture, and alternative energy such as green hydrogen and nuclear power. Apart from this, his VC fund would back entrepreneurs in India and Israel who can develop products and services that will reduce carbon dioxide and methane emissions and achieve scale.
Among other things, Harsha plans to travel the US once the travel restrictions are waived to complete the fund raise. "Climate change will impact every aspect of our lives, and it really is the final frontier of venture capital as I see it. If we don’t act on it now, our future generations will bear a heavy cost”, Harsha said.
"We can’t say that god will take care of it. It reminds me of a story of former US President Abraham Lincoln, whose aide said, “god is on our side, to which Abe Lincoln replied, 'lets hope that WE are on god’s side'," he added.
ClimateTech will be a $3.1 trillion opportunity by 2030 in India, according to IFC. It will invest in entrepreneurs in India and Israel who focus on big markets and scalable solutions.
However, the proposed fund will not invest in solar, wind, and hydro energy firms, as Harsah Moily believes that way too much fossil fuel is built into the supply chain of these businesses, and its materials after it has run its course would end up in landfills.
Earlier in 2009, Harsha had lunched an innovative milk dairy project called Milk Route in Karnataka procuring over 1.25 lakh litres of milk per day from 15,000 farmers. He exited the business in 2015. He also started a digital media venture in 2017.
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