Saudi Agritech Grove Bags US$5 Million Seed Round Led By Outliers VC

Saudi Arabia-based agritech startup Grove has raised US$5 million in seed funding in a round led by Riyadh-based venture capital (VC) firm Outliers VC, with participation from a group of angel investors. 

Founded by Mohammed bin Ghanam and Ayman AlFifi in KSA in 2024, Grove is a consumer agritech company that operates as a technology-enabled platform connecting farms, markets, and households through a vertically coordinated supply chain that helps align agricultural production with consumer demand. The fresh capital is set to support Grove’s expansion across Saudi Arabia, including growing its network of partner farms and further developing the systems and standards that underpin its model. 

The idea for Grove, however, did not begin with capital or scale, but with a more personal realization about the role that fresh produce plays in everyday life. In an interview with Inc. Arabia, bin Ghanam said Grove's founding team was motivated by a desire to build a business with broad, everyday relevance, even if that meant entering a crowded category. “We wanted to build something that impacts everyone," he explained. "The hard part is that products like that usually sit in very competitive, commoditized red-ocean markets. So, we kept asking ourselves: what is our real differentiator, and how do we use our experience building tech products in a market that’s big enough?” 

The answer to the question became clear through the founders’ own experience with farm-fresh produce at home. “A few years ago, we had the chance to get farm products regularly delivered straight to our families, and the difference was immediate," bin Ghanam shared. "The kids loved it. They got excited when the box arrived, like someone brought them candy. That’s when it clicked for us. Even in a red-ocean market, there’s a real unmet need. Variety is limited, and quality and freshness are way below what they could be." 

Grove’s operating model has thus been built on translating those early consumer insights into a system that works upstream as well as downstream. By working closely with farmers from the outset, the company focuses on expanding product variety and improving consistency by using technology to create clearer links between demand and production. Early performance indicators suggest that this approach is resonating. Grove reports repeat-purchase rates approaching 48 percent and food waste levels of less than five percent, which the company views as early validation of a demand-driven system designed to reduce excess rather than push volume. 

That approach is unfolding within a large but structurally constrained market. Saudi Arabia’s agricultural sector is valued at about $31.5 billion, while imports of plant-based products are expected to reach $10.7 billion in 2025. Despite the scale, the Grove co-founders noted that local production continues to be limited by inconsistent quality, narrow variety, and short shelf life—all challenges that stem from supply chains designed for volume, storage, and long transport times rather than freshness or flavor. 

AlFifi also highlighted that when the team took a closer look at local farming, they saw a clear disconnect between local supply and consumption. “The biggest, and most surprising, thing we noticed is that almost all imported products have local alternatives that are often far better," AlFifi said. "Because they’re closer to consumers, they spend less time in the chain and can be harvested more mature and ripe, so they taste better. In some cases, they’re also cheaper to produce. When we dug deeper, the reasons were simple. Farmers often don’t know this, it’s an information-flow problem. And even if they did, they wouldn’t take the risk because central wholesale market brokers don’t want to risk pushing new products into the market. What Grove does is move the 'what should be farmed' decision downstream by giving end consumers agency and input. That demand signal then flows back upstream to farmers, and it gives them confidence that expanding into local alternatives has a fair shot at commercial success.” 

That same clarity around incentives and structure also influenced how the company approached early fundraising. According to bin Ghanam, conversations with investors only began once the product itself could stand on its own. “We didn’t speak to investors until we had our first prototype," he shared. "We just asked if we could send them a sample box of Grove products. After they tried it, we sat down and talked business. From there, the conversation naturally shifted to scaling, not whether the value proposition made sense.” 

Grove's products on the market.

With that validation in place, bin Ghanam and AlFifi then turned their attention to how the model could grow sustainably over time. “On scalability, we were clear from day one," bin Ghanam said. "We look for information problems and solve them with information technology, and that’s scalable. That’s why Grove will always lean into orchestrating the supply chain rather than owning or operating assets or logistics networks long-term. In the short term, to prove the concept, we do operate parts of the supply chain so we can control quality and standards. Then we build a franchisable standard, and delegate it to third-party partners."

With respect to the support they've received from their investors, the founders said that it has extended beyond capital as the company builds out its roadmap for the future. “Our investors have been very supportive beyond the usual help with setup, strategy, access, and business development," bin Ghanam said. "They also genuinely love the product and use Grove themselves; so, we get great feedback on how their families and friends experience the brand." 

At the same time, changing consumer behavior is reshaping how households think about buying and consuming fresh produce. Indeed, bin Ghanam pointed to broader lifestyle shifts as a key driver for the company. “The biggest change we’ve seen is around family structure and broader socio-economic shifts," bin Ghanam said. "Families are smaller, live in smaller homes, and work longer hours than previous generations. That has changed needs. It’s also pushed fruit and vegetable consumption slightly out of diets, mostly because people have less time to cook, less time to visit central markets for better selection compared to a nearby supermarket, and they need smaller quantities that don’t match traditional central market buying sizes.” 

That is why the Grove team have designed their offering to respond directly to those realities. “Our product sizes and packaging are custom-made for smaller fridges and limited storage, so produce stays fresh longer," bin Ghanam said. "This helps families bring fruits and vegetables back into their weekly groceries in a consistent way." 

But operating within a legacy industry has come with constraints, bin Ghanam and AlFifi pointed out. On the supply side, building alignment has required patience in a sector shaped by long-standing practices, with adoption having been one of the company’s most persistent challenges. “This is one of the biggest challenges in our entrepreneurial journey, and we’re very aware of it," AlFifi revealed. "Success isn’t only about finding the right solution to the right problem, product-market fit. It’s also about adoption, especially with an offline-to-online disruption.”  

Beyond adoption, the founders pointed to establishing trust with suppliers as another critical challenge. “We use a few tools to overcome that, and one of the most important is reputation and brand," AlFifi said. "Farmers want to work with someone they trust. We’ve built that into our culture, especially for farmer-facing team members. Their word to the farmer is the company’s word, and we work hard to deliver on that. We’re gaining more reputation in farming communities, and it’s starting to show.” 

Pictured in the lead image are Grove co-founders Mohammed bin Ghanam and Ayman AlFifi. All images courtesy Grove.