Pure Harvest Smart Farms has announced the addition of three new senior executives to its leadership team. These latest appointments by the region’s technology-enabled agribusiness bolsters the company’s capabilities as it expands its operations in the region.
The new appointments come just one week after Pure Harvest successfully raised $20.6 million as part of its Series A financing round, together with a multi-stage investment commitment valued at over $100 million by Wafra International Investment Company.
Sky Kurtz, Co-Founder and CEO of Pure Harvest, said, “I’m thrilled with the additions of Johan Persson, Thomas Prins, and Thomas Larssen to Pure Harvest at this critical juncture. I look forward to working with each of them to achieve our shared mission to offer affordable local, year-round, sustainably-grown fresh fruits and vegetables that Taste Like They Should. We will continue to invest in people who have a proven track record of success to augment our capabilities.”
Thomas Larssen is the President of Aurora Larssen Projects (ALPS), a renowned greenhouse engineering & crop specialist consultancy firm, based in Ontario, Canada. Thomas joins Pure Harvest as an Independent Technical Director. He will serve on the Board of Directors and will support Pure Harvest in its strategy, technology roadmap, evaluation and selection of key partnerships, and to secure and then efficiently deploy capital. Larssen has set the industry standard in development of high-tech, automated, environmentally controlled cultivation facilities for over 30 years.
Johan Persson joins as Chief Operating Officer and will lead the company’s operations, including strategic sourcing, post-production, logistics, business optimisation, and all functions within the operations’ primary activities value chain. He will help to drive the business’ long-term strategy and work across all functions to improve the company’s scalability and ensure operational excellence. Persson has a unique professional acumen, with leadership roles in manufacturing, food production, and technology-enabled mobility solutions. Johan previously held VP-level leadership roles at Careem – the region’s most successful startup. Prior to Careem, Johan worked at Al Ghurair Foods as both Supply Chain Manager & Continuous Improvement Manager.
Thomas Prins joins Pure Harvest as Senior Grower. Prins brings more than 17 years of agronomical experience leading large-scale Dutch greenhouse operations, and is committed to continuous improvement and innovation to advance the controlled-environment agriculture industry. Prins will support Head Grower Jan Prins to oversee Pure Harvest’s expansions in the region, including to train and manage growers, to streamline production operations, and to champion quality control & assurance across the entire production process.
Pure Harvest’s mission is to make it possible to sustainably grow safe, delicious, and affordable fresh local produce anywhere is aligned with the UAE’s National Strategy for Food Security towards innovation-driven and technology-enabled food production.
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