ⓘ Featured image: A file-photo of Sky Kurtz, the founder & CEO of Pure Harvest
One of the leading agritech startups in the UAE, Pure Harvest Smart Farms that is developing technology-based greenhouses for agricultural developments across the Middle East has reportedly got a commitment of up to $100 million multi-stage investment from Wafra which is Kuwait’s national investment company. The investment company today invested $20.6 million in a Series A round of Pure Harvest.
As a part of the investment, Ghazi Al-Hajeri, CEO of Wafra will be joining the board of Pure Harvest.
Commenting on the investment round, Sky Kurtz, the founder & CEO of Pure Harvest in a statement today shared that the fresh funds will be deployed towards the development of agricultural facilities to cultivate pesticide-free fruits and vegetables.
“The global need for innovation in agriculture has never been greater. The recent COVID-19 crisis and resulting supply chain disruptions further highlight the need for sustainable local-for-local food production capacity, especially for fresh, nutrient-rich foods,”
“Together with structured debt financing that we are simultaneously arranging, we will invest Wafra’s funds in growth, key hires, enhancing our technology portfolio, and ultimately to deliver our solution across the region – including in Wafra’s home market of Kuwait.”
– Sky Kurtz, founder & CEO, Pure Harvest
David Scott, the chairman of Pure Harvest’s affirmed that the investment and commitment from Wafra will help the company to achieve industrial economies of scale by developing advanced greenhouse designs,
“Wafra’s investment comes at an exciting time and will allow Pure Harvest to achieve industrial economies of scale as the company roles out its next generation of advanced greenhouse designs optimized for profitability and sustainability within the MENA region,”
“This investment also demonstrates the caliber and far-sighted acumen of Wafra’s leadership, whose actions have placed their institution on the virtuous side of the irresistible macro trends driving explosive growth in technology-enabled agriculture in this region and beyond.”
– David Scott, chairman, Pure Harvest
That’s pretty cool. Is this startup working with teams from Netherlands? Looks like it’s an international collaboration.
Makes total sense to setup more indoor farms in the region. With so much sunlight falling per sq km.
The only thing is if too much water is taken from the oceans, then it will destabilize the micro life-form that exists in the oceans. That is based on the assumption that desalinated water is going to be used in order to power these farms.