Generation Startup: How a Dubai start-up is tokenising solar power – The National

Generation Startup: How a Dubai start-up is tokenising solar power – The National

SolarGridX plans to raise $250,000 for its crowdfunding platform, which invests in solar projects in India

















Chief executive Hardik Bhatia says SolarGridX is using the blockchain technology of tokenisation to raise funds for solar projects Source: Solar GridX







SolarGridX, a Dubai renewable energy start-up, has entered a space that remains fairly untested - that of global solar project finance during a time of tight liquidity.



Founded by Hardik Bhatia, 22, a final-year student at the Dubai branch of the Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani, and two of his college friends, the company is looking to transform the industry.



Mr Bhatia, an early investor in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, pondered how to use tokenisation - the process of converting an asset into a digital token through blockchain technology - to fund solar investment.





Inspired by his father, who imported Chinese-made solar panels into India, he set out to find ways to meet growing demand for clean energy in Asia's third-largest economy.



Mr Bhatia, who is the company's chief executive, and co-founders Prasanth Konda and Yatharth Kher considered using a new and innovative form of financing within a familiar