Swedish Greentech Firm Spowdi Inducts Rupali Mehra As Global CMO

Sweden’s greentech innovation company Spowdi has inducted media expert Rupali Mehra into its management team. Rupali Mehra joins Spowdi as Chief Marketing Officer with a global role.

Spowdi’s patented solar-powered drip-irrigation system hopes to enable millions of small-hold farmers across the world to move away from fossil fuel dependencies, save water and grow more harvests, thereby leading to better livelihoods. The Swedish firm entered the Indian market in 2019 and claims that its ‘smart farming’ technology has been tested and validated for Indian conditions and adopted by small-hold farmers in several states of India.

Called Spowdi Mobile Pro, the  system is designed to be used by food producers in need of flexible irrigation systems that can run on solar power. The idea is to make food producers more independent with Spowdi Mobile Pro; the solar panel generates enough power to run the system and charge the built-in back-up battery on a sunny day. Spowdi claims that no external energy sources like electric grids or diesel are necessary. The cost of running the system is extremely low compared to a diesel pump. The savings mean the system has paid for itself after 18-months use, compared to any diesel pump system.

As part of its ‘Train the Trainer’ programme, Spowdi also skills women micro-entrepreneurs from SEWA on ‘smart farming’ practices to enable them to be economically independent. Now, Spowdi’s strategic plan is to contribute to India’s renewable energy mission, with a ‘Make in India’ push.

“Rupali brings with her over two decades of media experience and understands the Indian landscape extremely well. Her editorial approach to marketing and communications, and her strong network will be valuable for Spowdi as we take a bigger step towards making in India,” says Henrik Johansson, CEO of Spowdi.

Over the past 23 years, Rupali has worked with several established media houses including Thomson Reuters, NDTV, and Times Now – where she was Senior Editor heading Special Projects and primetime news anchor – before transitioning into consulting organisations in Scandinavia and India on impact communications and creating engagement platforms to further exchanges between India and Sweden, such as ‘Engaging India at Almedalen’.

“My interest lies in building narratives and driving engagements that focus on SDGs and climate action from a multidimensional perspective. Spowdi’s mission is to ignite an agriculture evolution through innovation and enable small-hold farmers to shift towards sustainable food production. It’s a great match and I am truly excited to be a part of this journey,” says Mehra.