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UAE-based agriculture technology start-up Pure Harvest Smart Farms has secured another $64.5 million in additional funding, bringing its total invested capital to nearly $300 million.
Pure Harvest, which produces fruits and vegetables in greenhouses in the UAE, intends to use the proceeds to expand in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia (MENASA) region.
“We will use the proceeds to fund our existing GCC projects, drive R&D initiatives and expand our team,” said Tariq Sanad, chief financial officer at Pure Harvest.
It has also revealed plans to build and operate indoor vertical farms with a Korean firm.
The latest financing round, led by Korea’s alternative private investment company IMM Investment Corp., brings Pure Harvest’s cumulative invested capital to $271.6 million.
The rest of Pure Harvest’s existing institutional investors include Franklin Templeton, Wafra International Investment Company and SHUAA Capital, among others.
Early-stage Angel investors, as well as the existing management, have also invested more than $7 million in the new funding round.
Pure Harvest currently operates three farms in the UAE. Two more farms are under development in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait which, when completed, will expand the company’s production capacity to more than 18 hectares and increase the total workforce to 300.
The farms, equipped with controlled environment agriculture (CEA) technology, produce a variety of crops including tomatoes, leafy greens and strawberries.
(Writing by Cleofe Maceda; editing by Seban Scaria)
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© ZAWYA 2021
