RuKart take its electricity-free Subjee Cooler to SE Asia
A view of vegetable trays stored in a Subjee Cooler at a retail outlet in Bengaluru
Agri-tech firm RuKart is taking its electricity-free, low-cost cold storage solution for perishables — Subjee Cooler — overseas to the markets in South East Asia this year. Subjee Cooler, which is built on the enhanced evaporative cooling technology, provides low-cost cold storage solution to small farmers and vendors extending the shelf-life of perishables such as fruits and vegetables.
“We are targetting overseas markets like Indonesia, Cambodia and Lagos in South East Asia to begin with and expect to start shipping by February” said Vikash Jha, Founder and CEO, RuKart.
“As per capita incomes are rising across South East Asian nations, produce quality is getting attention in these countries as well. We do hope that there is a big market of Subjee Cooler in SE Asia as well,” Jha said.
Further, the company is also working on other technologies where the concept used in Subjee Cooler — enhanced evaporative cooling — can act as a building block.
RuKart has sold over 3,000 Subjee Coolers till the end of last year across the country except in States such as J&K, Himachal, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim and Goa. More than 10 per cent of the installations are in North East India, he said.
Jha acknowledged the role of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, which helped in creating awareness and increased adoption of the technology. “Odisha played an important role as it gave a recognition to technology. People were sceptical initially and this support came at a very right time. Also, the Andhra government gave us piloting support last year in floriculture cluster in Kuppam and Puttur. It helped us to understand problems faced by flower growers and retailers in depth and a dedicated 6 months’ time to understand Subjee Cooler’s position in flower value chain,” he added. Prices of the Subjee Cooler range between ₹20,000 and ₹50,000 depending on capacity.
Though the development of Subjee Coolers was started with farmers and small retailers in mind, the adoption of these cold storage solutions is now picking across metros, he said. “Subjee Coolers are being installed across all metro cities and tier 1 cities and customers includes the likes of Swiggy Instamart, Freshly (quick commerce), Organic Mandya, Sahaja Organics and many fruit and vegetable retailers,” he added.
Jha said Subjee Cooler has dual benefits — storage of flowers, mushroom and vegetables and it also acts as natural ripening chamber for fruits. Further, the rising consumer awareness of the adverse effects of carbide-based fruit ripening is translating into stronger demand for Subjee Coolers and a more loyal customer base, he added.
However, RuKart has been facing challenges in transportation and also in creating awareness about this low cost storage solution.
“We are right now dependent on 3rd party transportation service. Safe and timely delivery is a big issue because of bulky size of Subjee Cooler. Also, the transportation cost ranges from 7-8 per cent to as high as 20 per cent of the cost based on delivery location. This is a big issue we are facing,” Jha said.
Besides, the lack of skilled blue collar manpower in places other than metros is hurting the company. “We are based in places like Bhubaneswar, Guwahati, Bengaluru and Solapur. There is a dearth of skilled blue collar manpower in places other then Metros,” he added.
IIT Bombay has provided the initial support for RuKart for testing the pilots, while the company has also secured grant from Nabard and equity from Mumbai Angels.
Published on January 6, 2026
