Red Sea Farms, a Saudi Arabian AgTech company developing technology that allows commercial growth of crops using only saltwater and sunlight, has completed its latest Series A investment round, successfully surpassing its $10 million investment target, securing $16 million from prominent Saudi, UAE, and United States investors.
As per sources, the new investment will allow Red Sea Farms to expand its operations in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East and explore expansion potential in the United States, where crop growing conditions are challenging.
A consortium of UAE and Saudi UAE investors, including the Future Investment Initiative, Institute, the Aramco venture Wa'ed, KAUST, and Global Ventures, a UAE venture capital firm, contributed $10 million. Following that, investors from the United States of America, Bonaventure and AppHarvest expressed interest and contributed $6 million.
For the record, AppHarvest is an applied technology firm based in Appalachia, developing some of the world's largest indoor farms.
The company combines traditional agricultural techniques with cutting-edge technology to address critical issues such as increasing investment in Appalachia, improving access to adequate food for all, farming more sustainably, and building a home-grown supply of food. It’s 60-acre Morehead, KY plant is one of the country's largest indoor farms.
Unlike Red Sea farms, which focus on saltwater and solar growing technologies that scaled swiftly and efficiently in marginal agriculture areas like the Middle East, App Harvest reuses rainwater in their greenhouses.
Meanwhile, Bonaventure looks for companies with a preliminary solid product-market fit, as exemplified by revenue traction and consumer adoption, a clear path for gaining sustainable competitive advantages, and management teams passionate about solving problems for their customers and capable of scaling their businesses.
Key investors are indeed looking towards being a part of Red Sea Farms' next round of fundraising, which is scheduled in 2022, reflecting the growing trend of investing in sustainable projects that contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals while also meeting environmental, sustainability, and governance principles.
Source Credit - https://www.khaleejtimes.com/business/saudi-based-sustainable-agtech-firm-raises-16m-pre-series-a-funding-round