Latest $64.5M Investment Makes Pure Harvest Top Funded Agtech Company in MENASA Region

November 3, 2021

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

UAE-based sustainable, tech-driven agribusiness Pure Harvest Smart Farms (Pure Harvest) has closed on $64.5 million in funding led by IMM Investment, the leading private investment firm in Korea, which was joined by existing investors and management. 

“We are delighted to welcome IMM as the latest global institutional investor to fund our mission,” said Sky Kurtz, founder and CEO, Pure Harvest. “This is a landmark financing for Pure Harvest two reasons: first, IMM is one of Asia’s most respected and successful alternative investors, signaling the strength of our investment case; and second, the firm has been a longstanding investor in controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) through serial investments in Farm8 and PlanTFarm, leading Korean agribusiness and vertical farming ventures.”

Co-founded by Silicon Valley private equity investor Sky Kurtz and his Emirati business partner Mahmoud Adi on the premise that the region needs local, sustainable food sources, Pure Harvest is a technology-driven greenhouse production agribusiness dedicated to the year-round, sustainable production of premium fresh fruits and vegetables.

As innovators of the first commercial-scale, semi-automated and high-tech greenhouse, Pure Harvest leverages innovative growing technologies and horticultural best practices for the production of affordable, pesticide-free, and locally grown fresh produce.

Not only can high-tech systems like Pure Harvest’s reverse the water withdrawal connected with traditional agricultural production while also addressing food security and sustainability, it can also create possible export opportunities for the region while adding a measure of diversification to widely oil-dependent economies.

Today, Pure Harvest grows tomatoes, leafy greens, and strawberries, and is widely recognized for its trusted produce brand. It operates three farms in the UAE, and is currently overseeing the development of its fourth and fifth facility in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, respectively. Once these in-progress projects are completed, the company will have more than 18 hectares of production capacity spanning multiple crops, and will employ over 300 people.

Pure Harvest’s business model and success has proven that the MENA region, with its vast land bank, abundant sunlight, affordable labor and electricity, and ample CO2 can indeed be a valuable agricultural production region through leveraging these benefits to offset the cost of comparable imported fresh produce. This, in turn, strengthens the region’s food security, creates jobs, and generates novel and lucrative investment opportunities for investors.

“We are impressed with Pure Harvest’s journey, their compelling business case, and their ability to reliably produce in one of the most challenging environments in the world,” said Hyun-Chan Cho, partner, IMM. “This year underlined just how vulnerable global supply chains are, and we believe Pure Harvest is one of the game-changing companies that — through pioneering CEA in harsh climates — will deliver a sustainable source of food to the MENASA region.”

The announcement of this funding coincides with a joint venture partnership forged between Pure Harvest and PlanTFarm (IMM is the largest shareholder in the company), one of the largest and most innovative vertical farming solutions providers in the world. Under the terms of the agreement, the partners will jointly design, build, and operate indoor vertical farms that have integrated PlanTFarm’s cost-effective proprietary vertical farming systems.

This groundbreaking technological collaboration will position Pure Harvest as an “omnibus” controlled environment solutions provider, adding new CEA growing systems to its existing catalog of offerings, from retailer-integrated in-store farms to large scale warehouse-style indoor vertical farming systems.

It also adds more than 100 commercially proven crops, resulting in the broadest technology suite and fresh produce range of any smart farming solutions provider in the world.

Kurtz commented, “They (IMM Investments) understand the market opportunity and the merits of our solutions, and IMM will bring tremendous value supporting our expansion into Asia. Most importantly, we share the same values and vision for building a more resilient and sustainable food system for the world, tackling food security challenges and localising food production anywhere – even in the harshest climate environments. We are proud to partner with IMM and would like to welcome IMM’s Partner, Hyun-Chan Cho, the former director of Infrastructure & Natural Resources, Asia Pacific, at International Finance Corporation (a member of the World Bank Group), to our board of directors.”

This deal brings total cumulative funding for Pure Harvest to $271.6 million, making it the largest agtech investment in the MENASA region. The capital raised will support Pure Harvest’s CEA presence in the MENA region, and also fund the company’s R&D initiatives, team expansion, and serve as a beachhead for its expansion into Asia.

“We highly value the caliber and pedigree of the management team, the strong sense of mission, and the high-performance culture at the company,” said Cho. “As a leading investor in Ag-tech in Asia, we look forward to working closely to support Pure Harvest’s expansion further into Asia.”

Tariq Sanad, chief financial officer, Pure Harvest, added, “IMM now joins the ranks of existing institutional investors which include Franklin Templeton, Wafra International Investment Company, SHUAA Capital, Sancta Capital, Archer Private Investments, 2040 Fund, and many others. Early-stage Angel investors and existing management also invested over $7 million in the round, evidencing the strength of insiders’ conviction in the company’s prospects.”

 

– Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Oilseed & Grain NewsShe can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com

Join the Global AgInvesting Community

Share your email to be notified about upcoming events, receive leading industry news and more.