Pure Harvest Smart Farms and RedSea (RedSea) have signed a letter of intent (LOI) for Pure Harvest to take over RedSea's existing six-hectare controlled environment agriculture (CEA) production facility near Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

This strategic sale of its fresh produce business, which operates under the Red Sea FarmsTM brand, is part of RedSea's strategic transition into a pure technology company, focusing on the development and commercialization of AgriClimate technology solutions. It also aligns with Pure Harvest's expansion ambitions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its continued business model innovations, now implementing a technology-based, asset-light service model called "franchise farming", in which Pure Harvest partners with incumbent farmers in any market to scale sustainable farming solutions around the world.

Pure Harvest will assume farm operations in January 2024 and will immediately invest capital to improve production and climate control capabilities. The investment includes a large-scale integration of RedSea's iyris SecondSkyTM technology, a revolutionary transparent heat-blocking roofing solution that improves energy efficiency within greenhouses while reducing water consumption and improving crop health . iyris SecondSkyTM received the prestigious AE50 and Davidson Innovation Awards in 2023.

As part of the transaction, Pure Harvest will also secure a 40-hectare land bank located adjacent to the existing production facility in partnership with Alajaweed Farm, positioning Pure Harvest to expand its franchised farming footprint to build up to 28 hectares (equivalent to 52 football fields) of protected and resource-efficient agricultural production.

Sky Kurtz, co-founder and CEO of Pure Harvest, expressed his excitement about the partnership, stating: “We are delighted to partner with RedSea and support their strategic transition. Both companies sincerely believe that technology will play a critical role in mitigating climate change and ensuring food availability, affordability, safety and sustainability. “This transaction allows us to double our footprint in the Kingdom and serves as a fundamental rollout of our novel ‘franchise farming’ business model, a solution that has been in development for over two years.”

“We are grateful to RedSea and Alajaweed Farm for the trust they have placed in Pure Harvest and for their innovative and collaborative approach to working together toward our unified vision. We hope to begin work on expansion projects in the new year. “And we hope this alliance serves as a symbol of what is possible when we work together.”

Ryan Lefers, co-founder and CEO of RedSea, commented: “RedSea began with the vision of bringing innovative technologies to market to address climate-driven food, water and energy challenges. From the beginning, we recognized the importance of acquiring a first-hand understanding of the challenges facing our future farmer-operator customers and, by walking in their shoes, we were able to develop and field-test a compelling set of AgriClimate technology solutions. We always plan a transition from agricultural “operator” to a pure operator. «Gaming technology company».

“In Pure Harvest, we have found a custodian of what we have built in the Kingdom to date, including our fruitful partnership with Alajaweed Farm. They are a partner in carrying the torch and have demonstrated passion, commitment and ability to farm in challenging climates and invest in the Kingdom. “We look forward to working with Pure Harvest as a technology partner in the coming years and bringing the AgriClimate solutions we have perfected over the past five years to farmers around the world.”

Both companies have received global recognition for their innovative approaches to agriculture in challenging climates and developing markets. This alliance reflects their unique capabilities and capabilities, positioning them to address not only the needs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, but also to contribute to solving global climate and food security challenges in some of the most severe climates on Earth.