- Funding takes total capital raised to-date to $387.1 million, fortifying the UAE-based company’s position among the best-funded startups in the MEASA region.
- Ambitious growth plan includes high-tech hybrid smart farms across the GCC and Asia.
- A diverse, global investor base supports Pure Harvest’s mission to democratize access to high-quality, sustainably-grown, fresh fruits and vegetables.
Pure Harvest Smart Farms (Pure Harvest), a world-leading, sustainable technology-enabled agribusiness headquartered in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), raised USD $180.5 million in their latest growth funding round. Led by a consortium of global investors, including Metric Capital Partners UK, IMM Investment Corp Korea & Olayan Group KSA among other existing investors and managers. The capital (along with other forms of debt financing) will be used to fund the company’s research and development, expand its footprint across the GCC as well as initiate an expansion across the Asian market. Citigroup served as an exclusive financial advisor to Pure Harvest.
The funding represents, according to the company’s statement, the “largest-ever” convertible financing in the MEASA region, and though, oversubscribed, the company states that other strategic investors are still in discussions for further upsizing the amount. The funding round further’s the place of Pure Harvest Farm as the region’s leading indoor vertical farming and one of the fastest growing companies in the sector, globally.
Sky Kurtz, Co-Founder, and CEO at Pure Harvest Smart Farms, said: “We are humbled by this investment from an esteemed group of global investors, backing our mission: to harness the wonders of science, the power of nature, and the passions of people to provide tasty, affordable, sustainably-grown fresh produce anywhere. At Pure Harvest we have demonstrated we can reliably deploy our high-tech farming solutions across the GCC. Now it is time to enter new markets that share similar challenges to our own – fast-growing populations, seasonal import-dependence, and an awareness of the crippling effects that short-term crises (e.g. COVID-19, Russia-Ukraine conflict), and climate change, are having on our global food system. The future of farming is here… now, we have the resources to bring our solution to the world.”
Metric Capital Partners, the London headquartered, pan-European private equity investor providing capital solutions to mid-sized companies across a wide variety of industries, was a co-lead investor. Bjørn Tessiore, Partner at Metric Capital Partners said:
“We are delighted to support the continued growth of Pure Harvest. It’s clear that controlled-environment agriculture is becoming increasingly important as a solution to food security issues while also mitigating the environmental impact of food production. We believe Pure Harvest is extremely well positioned to thrive in this growing market driven by its excellent team, innovative approach, and proven track record of building and operating at scale in a region characterized by difficult climatic conditions for agriculture.”
Commenting for IMM Investment Corp, the leading alternative investment firm in Korea, who announced an initial USD $50 million investment in Pure Harvest in October, Hyun-Chan Cho, Partner at IMM commented:
“Due to our longstanding successful investment in Farm8 (PlanTFarm), we knew the CEA space well. With Pure Harvest, we saw a complementary solution that let us double-down on an investment thesis that we continue to believe in, and that tangibly contributes to global food security, water conservation, economic diversification, and sustainability objectives. We are proud to actively support Pure Harvest as it brings its solution to Asian markets.”
The Olayan Financing Company, a Saudi company holding and managing the Olayan Group’s Middle Eastern assets, was another key investor in this round of fundraising. A spokesperson for the company, discussed their recent investment:
“Pure Harvest’s character aligns closely to our own: they saw an impending global food security crisis and have taken an important step to solve it. The climate and water challenges Pure Harvest works to overcome is vital to the global economy. Pure Harvest has proven its ability to deliver incredibly high-quality, safe, sustainable products at affordable prices, and they’ve shown an openness to partner with others to achieve their mission. I believe this funding will allow them to unleash significant potential, and to meet growing food demands in many new markets. We are pleased to be joining the company at this critical point in their journey, transitioning from a regional leader to a global one.”
With this funding round, along other garnts/ government incentives given by the Abu Dhabi Investment Office in 2020 wil enable Pure Harvest to accelerate its growth, expanding in new markets, increasing its R&D to discover new growth initiatives including product extensions and water-efficient CEA solutions for fodder production.
6 Comments