December 11, 2023

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

UAE-based sustainable, tech-driven agribusiness Pure Harvest Smart Farms (Pure Harvest) and climate smart tech developer RedSea have signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) for Pure Harvest to acquire RedSea’s existing six-hectare controlled environment agriculture (CEA) production facility in Saudi Arabia. 

As part of the transaction, Pure Harvest will also acquire 40 hectares co-located with the facility in partnership with the Alajaweed Farm, leaving Pure Harvest in a position to expand its franchised farm footprint to build up to 28 hectares of protected agricultural production facilities at the site. 

Co-founded in the United Arab Emirates 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 leverages innovative growing technologies and horticultural best practices for the production of affordable, pesticide-free, and locally grown fresh produce.

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.

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 also can create possible export opportunities for the region while adding a measure of diversification to widely oil-dependent economies.

“We are delighted to partner with RedSea and to support its strategic transition,” said Sky Kurtz, co-founder and CEO, Pure Harvest. “Both companies wholeheartedly believe that technology will play a critical role to mitigate climate change and ensure the availability, affordability, safety, and sustainability of food. This transaction allows us to double our footprint in the Kingdom and serves as a foundational deployment of our novel ‘franchise farming’ business model, a solution that has been under development for over two years.”

Red Sea Farms was launched in 2018 with a mission to reduce food insecurity, the carbon footprint, and water usage in both the Gulf and global food systems.

Using a patented system of cutting-edge, more efficient solar and growth monitoring technologies, Red Sea Farms replaces the fresh water typically used to cool greenhouses and irrigate crops with salt water, cutting fresh water consumption by as much as 95 percent.

Combining impact with innovation, Red Sea Farms links precision climate control, plant science, and AI-enabled systems to support the sustainable production of food in water-scare and climatically harsh regions such as the Middle East, where conventional food production is neither cost-effective, or in many cases, even possible.

RedSea’s strategic sale of its fresh produce business, which operates under the Red Sea FarmsTM brand, is part of a larger plan to transition to a pure-play technology company focused on the development and commercialization of AgriClimate technology solutions. It also aligns with Pure Harvest’s expansion ambitions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the shift of its business model to an asset-light, tech-enabled service model called “franchise farming”, whereby Pure Harvest partners with incumbent farmers in any market to scale sustainable farming solutions on a global scale. 

“RedSea began with a vision to bring innovative technologies to the market to tackle climate-driven food, water, and energy challenges,” said Ryan Lefers, co-founder and CEO, RedSea. “Early-on, we acknowledged the importance of acquiring a first-hand understanding of the challenges our future farmer-operator customers face, and by walking in their shoes were able to develop and field test a compelling suite of AgriClimate technology solutions.”

“We always planned a transition from farm ‘operator’ to a pure-play technology company. In Pure Harvest, we have found a custodian for what we have built in the Kingdom to-date, including our fruitful partnership with Alajaweed Farm. They are a partner to carry the torch and have demonstrated passion, commitment, and capabilities to farm in challenging climates, and to invest in the Kingdom.”

Both companies have had global recognition for their innovative approaches to food production in challenging climates and developing markets. This alliance reflects those novel capabilities, positioning them to address not only food security in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, but to be contributors to solving climate and food security challenges on a global scale. 

“We are grateful to RedSea and to Alajaweed Farm for the trust they have placed in Pure Harvest, and for their innovative and collaborative approach working as one towards our unified vision,” said Kurtz. “We look forward to beginning work on the expansion projects in the new year, and we hope that this alliance serves as a symbol for what’s possible when we work together.”

Pure Harvest will assume operations of the facility in January 2024, and plans to immediately invest capital to boost production and enhance climate control capacities. This work will include a large-scale integration of RedSea’s cutting-edge SecondSkyTM technology – a ground-breaking solution that won the prestigious AE50 and Davidson prizes for innovation in 2023 – that is a transparent, heat-blocking roofing solution that enhances energy efficiency inside greenhouses while reducing water usage and improving crop health. 

Lefers concluded, “We look forward to working with Pure Harvest as a technology partner in the years to come, and to bringing the AgriClimate solutions we’ve honed over the past five years to farmers all over the world.”

~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor in chief 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 Unconventional Ag. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

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