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After securing $64.5 million in additional funding last October, UAE-based agtech startup Pure Harvest has now entered into a strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia's National Agricultural Development Company (Nadec) to deliver a large-scale national food security project.
The partnership aims to enable production of locally and sustainably grown fresh produce in more than 27 hectares on Nadec's lands.
Nadec was the first listed agricultural company in the Saudi stock market. It produces over 1.5 million liters of dairy and juice each day, serving over 40,000 GCC stores, and employing over 7,000 people.
Pure Harvest will deploy production capacity over the next five years farming a wide range of crops, and Nadec will market these products to its consumer base, hotels, restaurants, and catering partners.
Sky Kurtz, Founder & CEO of Pure Harvest Smart Farms, said: “Nadec is a formidable incumbent food supplier with a sterling reputation and brand, sizeable landholdings and enabling infrastructure, and an experienced leadership team. We greatly benefit from Nadec’s strength, and together we are pioneering a new category of fresh produce for the Saudi people.
"Both Nadec and Pure Harvest completed and commissioned their first-ever project on December 29, 2021, producing over fifteen (15) varieties of high-quality, hydroponically-grown tomatoes in an approximately 6-hectare high-tech, climate-controlled growing system in Nadec City, Haradh.
In January 2022, Pure Harvest Smart Farms was ranked #2 in Forbes Middle East’s "50 Most-Funded Startups In MENA" for securing over $280 million of capital since the company’s inception. In July, Pure Harvest raised $180.5m in its biggest ever fundraising, from backers including the billionaire Olayan family, which runs one of Saudi Arabia’s largest conglomerates.
(Writing by Seban Scaria; editing by Daniel Luiz)
