Saudi Arabia-based farming technology developer Red Sea Farms secured $16m in pre-series A funding yesterday from investors including oil and gas provider Saudi Aramco’s Wa’ed vehicle and farming network AppHarvest.
Wa’ed, the Saudi government’s Future Investment Initiative, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (Kaust) and Global Ventures provided $10m for the round in June this year before AppHarvest and Bonaventure added the other $6m.
Spun out of Kaust in 2018, Red Sea is developing saltwater-based agriculture products that would be capable of utilising seawater as an option for farming in areas without substantial freshwater resources.
Kaust’s Innovation Fund had joined commercialisation firm Research Products Development Company to invest $1.9m in the company in mid-2019.
Red Sea CEO Ryan Lefers said: “Red Sea Farms is thrilled to have substantially exceeded its target for the current funding round. We look forward to working closely with our investors and our Red Sea Farms team to accelerate plans to roll out our technology in Saudi, the Middle East and North America.”
