April 6, 2020

photo credit: Pure Harvest

By Lynda Kiernan

UAE-based Pure Harvest Smart Farms (Pure Harvest) announced that it has secured a multi-stage capital commitment valued in excess of $100 million from Wafra International Investment Company (Wafra), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Public Institution for Social Security. 

This deal represents the largest agtech investment in the MENAPT region (Middle East, North Africa, Pakistan and Turkey) to-date.

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

“The global need for innovation in agriculture has never been greater,” said Sky Kurtz, founder and CEO, Pure Harvest Smart Farms. “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.”

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.

Although advances in technology resulted in an increase in food production in the MENA region in the 1990s, the region is still expected to see a food deficit of between 50 million tons and 90 million tons by this year. 

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.

As a result, indoor vegetable production in the Middle East region has been gaining traction with investors such as Wafra, whose investment will drive Pure Harvest’s development and deployment of advanced controlled-environment agriculture, regardless of weather conditions, across the region.

Founded in 1994 as a Kuwaiti shareholding closed company, Wafra posted assets under management of approximately US$6 billion as of December 31, 2019, spread across a wide variety of investment funds and portfolios.

“Wafra’s investment into Pure Harvest acknowledges the significant potential of controlled-environment agriculture in solving the food security challenges facing the Arabian Gulf region, including Kuwait,” said Ghazi Al-Hajeri, CEO, Wafra “The Arabian Gulf food system is undergoing a monumental shift toward a technology-enabled farming model in order to meet consumer demands for affordable, high quality foods. When you combine the local abundance of sunlight with energy & water-efficient climate management systems, the region makes a compelling case as one of the best places in the world for horticulture – a ‘contrarian’ thesis we believe in and that led us to invest in Pure Harvest.”

“We have earmarked $100 million to support future expansions should the company continue to perform. We look forward to working alongside Pure Harvest to enhance food security, water conservation and economic diversification by building a more sustainable food future for Kuwait and our entire region.”

David Scott, chairman of Pure Harvest, added, “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.”

The first stage of the investment will see Wafra lead a $20.6 million Series A for Pure Harvest, with a commitment of $10 million to the round. This will represent the first step in a multi-phase investment to drive regional expansion for Pure Harvest that entails leveraging the region’s abundant natural sunlight with core innovations in climate management to maximize humidity and temperature to create the optimal growing environment for premium produce.

“This visionary multi-phase investment commitment from Wafra has given us the resources needed to secure our foothold as a pioneer in controlled-environment agriculture in the Middle East,” said Kurtz. “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.”

Pure Harvest first came under GAI News’ radar in 2016, when the company announced that it had raised $1.1 million in Seed funding from Abu Dhabi-based Shorooq Investments, and had concurrently acquired 3.3 hectares in Nahel, UAE for the launch of its operations. Additional funding was raised in June of the following year. 

“We are proud to have backed this venture and its exceptional founding team since inception,” said Mahmoud Adi, co-founder and director, Pure Harvest and Shorooq Partners. “At Shorooq, we fundamentally believed in the thesis early-on.”

“Pure Harvest is now a recognized leader that is addressing regional food security at its core,” continued Adi. “The Company has now grown to such a scale that it is time to seek new investment partners to take it to the next level. Pure Harvest is a unique startup with a massive market opportunity, a proven business model, a capable leadership team, and is quickly becoming a winning story within the region that is so dear to me personally, to Shorooq, and to the UAE. We are extremely pleased to welcome Ghazi and Wafra to the team to support the Company’s next phase of growth.”

– Lynda Kiernan is Editor with GAI Media and daily contributor to the GAI News and Agtech Intel platforms. If you would like to submit a contribution for consideration, please contact Ms. Kiernan at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.