Pure Harvest Smart Farms (Pure Harvest), an Abu Dhabi-based world-leading, sustainable technology-enabled agribusiness, has raised $180.5 million in its latest growth funding round.
The financing was embraced by a consortium of key global investors, including Metric Capital Partners, UK, IMM Investment Corp, Korea, and Olayan Group and Saudi, joined by several existing investors and management. The company will utilize the capital, together with various forms of debt financing, to invest in research and development, expand its footprint across the GCC, and open new markets in Asia.
In the MEASA region, this is the largest convertible financing to date. The funding round was vastly oversubscribed, and a few strategic investors are still in discussions for further upsizing, underscoring the strong institutional investor appetite for Pure Harvest. The growth capital cements Pure Harvest’s role as the MEASA region’s champion within the fast-emerging, global high-tech agriculture ecosystem.
Sky Kurtz Co-Founder & CEO Pure Harvest Smart Farms
“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, 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.”
Mr. Bjørn Tessiore, Partner at Metric Capital Partners said that “We are delighted to support the continued growth of Pure Harvest. 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.”
This latest round of fundraising cements Pure Harvest’s leadership position as the pioneer in CEA in harsh climates. This fundraise, together with the sizable research and development incentives secured from the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) in 2020, will allow Pure Harvest to accelerate its growth plans, deploying growing systems in new markets and increasing research and development investments. The company is also investigating a number of new growth initiatives, including product extensions and water-efficient CEA solutions for fodder production.
