Veera is a word meaning “brave” in Hindi. It’s a word that UNC juniors Varun Jain, Nicholas Ashcraft and Grant Everist used to name their startup, encapsulating the idea that their cold storage unit boxes, running from renewable energy, can brave any environmental conditions.
The product is something much needed in India, where some of Jain’s extended family lives. There, produce sections in grocery markets can look very different from the way they do in the United States. Many lack refrigeration, causing goods to spoil quickly. And that’s presuming they even reach the market before going bad. In fact, Jain says, up to 40 percent of produce in India goes to waste due to lack of refrigeration.
That’s where Veera comes in.
“We’re trying to source a ton of different types of goods and services that would allow rural farmers or rural populations to succeed and to break out of poverty,” said Jain. “Right now that mainly consists of cold storage. This is basically just a box that’s not bigger than an average-sized cart that you might use if you were moving, for example, and getting that to the farmers in India.”
Read more at Grep Beat.