Everything is better sunny side up
Situation:
Dr. Klein Ileleji grew up in Nigeria where he saw first-hand the impact food insecurity has on developing communities where electricity is scarce. Through a research project at Purdue University’s Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering he discovered a significant need to develop an affordable method to dry harvested produce before it spoiled. He invented Dehytray™ , a portable solar food drying system capable of drying crops grown by households, small farms and mid-size agribusinesses. Dr. Ilelegi worked with Purdue Foundry, an entrepreneurial tech incubator and co-founded JUA Technologies International with his wife Reiko in 2016. But Dr. Ilelegi ran into an obstacle; how was he going to sell Dehytrays to struggling farmers in underdeveloped regions?
“There are a lot of solar dryer designs available in literature and online, Dr. Ilelegi said, “but none of them have been commercialized or made accessible and affordable in tech deficient parts of the world.”
How SBA resources helped:
Dr. Ilelegi reached out to the nearby Hoosier Heartland Indiana SBDC and the local SCORE chapter. They connected him with the Indiana District Export Council. They also connected him with exporting assistance through the Export Indiana Accelerator Program, the U.S. Department of Commerce Gold Key Program and with the SBA-funded Indiana State Trade Expansion Program (IN-STEP). Then, these SBA resource partners helped Dr. Ilelegi secure export advisory services and insurance through U.S. Commercial Services, EXIM Bank and with an SBA-backed export working capital loan.
Impact:
Dr. Ilelegi put all this export training and funding to good use helping him set up structures and networks in untapped and undeveloped markets in Africa and Asia. In 2021 he launched a subsidiary company in Kenya named Dhytech East Africa Limited which is responsible for importing, marketing and selling JUA technologies in the East African region.
In 2022, Dr. Ilelegi was names SBA Indiana and Great Lakes Region Exporter of the Year.
Dr. Klein continues his quest to combat world hunger through solar tech. In 2017, JUA’s prototype technology was one of the Top 10 innovations to receive awards at the first All-African Post-Harvest Congress and Exhibit. In 2019 Dr. Ilelegi won a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture which he used to develop a second product, the Dehymeleon™ . In 2022, Dr. Ilelegi was awarded SBIR Phase II funding from the USDA which he said he will use for further research and development in four areas – simulation, optimization, field performance and beta prototyping.
Another market Dr. Ilelegi feels is ripe for his clean energy creations is the United States. “This technology is not just for developing countries,” Dr. Ilelegi said. “We have a local market to develop and would like to see at-home gardeners in the U.S. give us a try.”
JUA Technologies International currently sells its first product, the Dehytray™ in 10 countries and in 28 states throughout the U.S.