Synnefa Wins $300k Grant to Scale IoT-Powered Solar Dryers

Synnefa aims for targeted deployment with Solidaridad to curb post-harvest losses and speed up crop drying.

Funding Overview

Kenyan agri-tech startup Synnefa (site) has secured a US$300,000 grant to deploy IoT-enabled solar dryers across Kenya. The grant will enable countrywide rollout of the technology and funding comes via the World Resources Institute’s P4G initiative in partnership with Solidaridad.

Deployment Focus and Partners

The program will be implemented with Solidaridad and is designed to support smallholder farmers in Makueni County. The rollout centers on IoT-equipped solar dryers that Synnefa builds as part of its product ecosystem. The funding will be used to scale the dryers nationally.

Expected Impact

The project aims to assist over 800 smallholder farmers in Makueni County, reducing post-harvest losses by 45% and cutting drying times from several weeks to just 2–3 days. The targeted productivity gains span crops including coffee, fruits, grains and vegetables. The expansion is expected to help avoid more than 50,000 metric tons of food loss, generate youth employment opportunities, and reduce CO₂ emissions associated with wasted produce.

Company Background and Next Steps

Synnefa, founded in 2019 by Stanley Kirui, offers smart farming tools including Smart Greenhouses, FarmShield IoT, FarmCloud and Smart Solar Dryers. The company claims to have reached over 7,000 farmers and aims to raise US$2 million in seed funding by 2026 to expand to 150,000 farmers across East Africa. Synnefa links the scale-up to potential job creation for youth and reductions in CO₂ emissions from wasted harvests.

“We are positioning Synnefa to be Africa’s leading agro fintech by generating farm data sets that we can use to determine farmers’ credit scores for lending,” said Taita Ngetich, CEO of Synnefa.

As Synnefa moves to expand its technology and farmer network, the grant marks a strategic step in advancing climate-smart agriculture in Kenya. By combining IoT-enabled infrastructure with on-the-ground collaboration through Solidaridad, the initiative has the potential to improve crop quality, stabilise market participation for smallholders, and reduce value-chain inefficiencies linked to slow drying and storage losses. With its broader growth plans underway, Synnefa’s model positions the company to play a growing role in data-driven, sustainable productivity across East Africa.

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