Saudi Startup Grove Secures $5M to Revolutionise Fresh Produce Supply Chains

Saudi agri–produce startup Grove has wrapped up a SAR 19 million seed round, roughly $5 million, led by Outliers VC, with participation from Mohammed and Ahmed, the sons of Ibrahim bin Saidan, along with Madarat Investment and a group of angel investors. Not a bad start for a company that’s barely been around a year.

Founded in 2024 by Mohammed bin Ghannam and Ayman Al‑Fifi, Grove is trying to do something quite simple in theory, though a bit of a faff in practice: build a trusted consumer brand for fresh local produce, while fixing the long‑standing gaps in how food moves from farm to table. The company works directly with local farmers and uses a tech‑enabled system that links production, logistics and sales in one chain, cutting out layers that often muddle quality and pricing.

If this sounds timely, that’s because it is. Saudi Arabia’s local agriculture market is estimated at around SAR 118 billion, yet imports of plant‑based products alone hit SAR 40 billion in 2025. That imbalance hints at a deeper issue I reckon many families quietly feel: local produce doesn’t always meet what people actually want. Quality can swing wildly, choice is limited, and spoilage happens far too fast. Believe it or not, a lot of this traces back to supply chains built decades ago to prioritise shelf life over taste or nutrition.

I’ve heard founders across the MENA region, often at Arageek meetups, grumble about this exact pain point. Early harvesting, heavy pesticide use, and chasing volume rather than quality have become the norm, mostly benefiting short‑term operators and middlemen. On the flip side, farmers and consumers both lose out, and young entrepreneurs struggle to break into a system that feels stacked against them.

Grove’s approach is to flip that logic. It aligns marketing and sales early in the growing cycle, so farmers know what to plant, how much, and at what quality level. Prices and standards are clear from day one. That gives farmers clearer planning and rewards better produce, while consumers get fresher options and more variety. The company also pushes for transparency at every step, from harvest to delivery, with the aim of reducing food waste. So far, repeat purchase rates are reported at up to 48%, while waste has been kept below 5% — spot on figures for an early‑stage food business.

Bin Ghannam, a co‑founder of Grove, has spoken about the loss of the traditional, family‑run farming mindset, where land stewardship was passed down generations. In recent decades, he argues, decision‑making shifted towards quick commercial wins, driving overuse of pesticides and water without much thought for the long term. In a country like Saudi Arabia, where water scarcity and soil degradation are very real, that short‑termism can be costly for future generations.

Al‑Fifi’s motivation, meanwhile, is more personal. He has shared how bringing fruits and vegetables directly from farms changed how his children looked at food. That small moment, he says, revealed how closeness to the source and better quality can reshape our relationship with what we eat. As he dug deeper, he concluded the core problem wasn’t farmers themselves, but supply chain models obsessed with logistics efficiency and quick returns, slowly eroding nutritional value over time.

Outliers VC, which led the round, clearly bought into this thinking. Its founder and managing partner Mohammed Al‑Mushiqah has noted that access to high‑quality local produce is tightly linked to public health and community resilience. What drew the fund to Grove was less the product and more the founders’ ambition to rebuild the relationship between farmers and the market, grounded in a clear understanding of Saudi realities and a hands‑on operational mindset.

Based in Riyadh, Grove operates as a direct‑to‑consumer platform, harvesting to order and using its integrated tech system to ensure produce moves quickly from farm to table. I’m not a fan of overhyping early traction, well… I mean, food supply chains are notoriously tough, but Grove’s early numbers and focus on fundamentals suggest this is one to watch, definately.

🚀 Got exciting news to share?

If you're a startup founder, VC, or PR agency with big updates—funding rounds, product launches 📢, or company milestones 🎉 — AraGeek English wants to hear from you!

✉️ Send Us Your Story 👇

https://en.arageek.com/send-us-your-story-or-a-news-tip