India loses a significant share of its agricultural produce every year due to post-harvest wastage, largely caused by storage challenges and strict market quality standards. Addressing this long-standing issue, Indore engineer Varun Raheja founded Raheja Solar Food Processing Pvt. Ltd., introducing IoT-enabled solar dryers designed to convert surplus or rejected crops into high-value dried products. The innovation combines traditional sun-drying principles with modern controlled-environment technology, preserving nutrients, flavour, and colour while preventing contamination.

The startup’s dryers operate without electricity or chemicals and are available in multiple capacities, enabling individual farmers, self-help groups, and commercial processors to adopt the system. By extending shelf life and allowing farmers to sell produce later at better prices, the technology reportedly increases farmer income by 40–50%. The company has installed more than 8,000 dryers across India and expanded internationally, empowering over one lakh farmers.

Raheja also launched a direct-to-consumer brand that converts cosmetically imperfect fruits into natural snacks, further strengthening the value chain. After appearing on Shark Tank India, the startup secured funding and scaled rapidly, reaching ₹12 crore revenue in FY25. The venture highlights how climate-friendly innovation can turn agricultural waste into economic resilience.