Saudi start-up Red Sea Farms secures a total of $16M to expand saltwater-based agricultural systems

Saudi-Arabian agtech start-up Red Sea Farms has exceeded its $10M target and raised $16M investment from leading UAE, Saudi and US investors.

Red Sea Farms utilises AI-based light and energy management technology to produce saltwater-based systems for commercial farming. The company seeks to utilise its technology to grow healthy food sustainably and reduce food insecurity around the world.

The first round of $10M funding came from investors including the Aramco venture Wa’ed, KAUST, the Saudi government-owned Future Investment Initiative Institute and Global Ventures, a UAE venture capital group. An additional $6M was raised from US-based AppHarvest, a technology company developing indoor farms, and Bonaventure, a US venture capital firm.

The start-up will use the funding to accelerate operations across Saudi and the Middle East, and also explore growth opportunities in arid areas of the US where food growing conditions are challenging.

Ryan Lefers, Chief Executive Officer of Red Sea Farms, 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.”