AGRITECH-

UAE Veggitech seeks funding for expansion plans: UAE-based agritech company Veggitech is considering expanding its hydroponic farming operations into Jeddah, where its majority shareholder Snasco Holding is headquartered, company CFO Rami Nairat told Zawya Projects in an interview. “We are in the study phase and are looking at investments between AED 15 to 20 mn (USD 4 to 5.5 mn) through equity investors, banks or alternative sources of funding,” Nairat said. Veggitech is planning to acquire one farm a year, he added.

Veggitech isn’t forgetting its home base: The company is also in discussions with the UAE’s Ministry of Climate Change and Environment and a leading bank to get funding for a pilot project to implement its new Build-Operate-Transfer model, according to Zawya.

About Veggitech: Veggitech has worked in tech and food processing for two decades, and has designed and manufactured a sophisticated light assisted hydroponics system with a patented growth light which speeds up harvesting time by 3 fold. Snasco Holding’s acquisition of Sharjah-based Veggitech in 2021 marked the Saudi investment company’s first venture into the agritech sector outside the kingdom, Zawya writes. The company has built five hydroponic farms — over 360k sqm — in the last 3 years, ahead of its initially planned timeline of 6 years, according to Nairat, who added that Veggitech’s sales have grown 200% y-o-y.

ELECTRIC VEHICLES-

Lucid Group’s shares drop 5% on news of weak EV deliveries for 3Q: Public Investment Fund-backed EV maker Lucid has delivered a total of 1.45k EVs of its Air sedan model in 3Q 2023 not meeting the projected sales for the quarter and causing a 5% drop in shares earlier in the week on Tuesday’s market close, CNBC writes. The 3Q figures, while representing an increase from the 1.4k deliveries in 2Q and 3Q 2022, are down from projected sales of 2k cars for the period, the news outlet notes, citing an analyst poll by FactSet. Lucid’s shares have dropped almost 23% from the beginning of 2023 on the back of low demand for its Air models. The company is expected to share its earnings report after US markets close on 7 November.

Lucid has been taking heavy losses: Lucid — which last month inaugurated its first overseas production facility in Jeddah’s King Abdullah Economic City — saw its net losses increase by 71.2% y-o-y in 2Q 2023 y-o-y to USD 766.6 mn. This came despite the company’s revenues increasing by 35.5% y-o-y in 2Q to USD 150.9 mn. PIF owns a 60.5% stake in the EV company, and has committed to buying at least 50k EVs from the automaker over the coming decade, with an option of doubling the volume. The company aims to manufacture over 10k vehicles in 2023.

OTHER STORIES WORTH KNOWING ABOUT THIS MORNING-

• Khazna to power data centers with biofuels: The UAE's Khazna Data Centers will start powering its centers with biofuels by the end of the year as part of the company's sustainability plan. The first stage of the project will include blending biofuels with traditional ones, monitoring their performance, and then implementing biofuel usage across all its data centers. (Zawya)
• KISR explores EV sustainability: Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) is in discussions with the Union of Automobile Agents to sustain electric car projects in hot climates. The two parties will consider launching a new project to monitor the performance of four-wheel drive EVs powered by solar-powered charging ports. (Kuwait News Agency)
• UM6P and Abdul Latif Jameel form agricultural lab: The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) partners with University Mohammed VI Polytechnic (UM6P) to form the UM6P-J-PAL agricultural lab for Africa in Morocco. The lab will develop and implement an impact evaluation of policies to improve food security in the region. (Trade Arabia)