Vertical Future appoints new Head of Deal Structuring

Mark joins Vertical Future with 25 years of experience in banking and finance, over 22 of those with Citi, one of the world’s largest financial institutions, holding various positions across its Trading and Private Banking divisions. Most recently he set up and led a global sales team, focused on creating and delivering tailored investment and financing deals for the personal and corporate assets of Citi’s most important family offices and ultra-high-net-worth customers. 

Mark will lead the Commercial team to grow Vertical Future’s market share, accelerate revenue growth and capitalise on the company’s industry-leading technology. A key aspect of Mark’s role will be to develop and maintain partnerships with key industry stakeholders in key geographical markets, including the Middle East and Southeast Asia. 

Mark Pickering commented: “I am very excited to be joining Vertical Future to support the next stage of its growth by bringing together at-scale - investors, governments, growers, operators, and buyers to take advantage of the world’s most automated and integrated vertical farming hardware system, manufactured in-house, also operating using our proprietary software solution, DIANA.” 

Mark will work alongside new hires Grant MacDonald and Svetlana Frantuz to strengthen the Vertical Future Business Development team. Grant joins Vertical Future from global asset manager Ninety-One, where he was the Client Manager for the Asia Pacific and Middle East Institutional Market. Svetlana was previously a Fresh Produce-Ordering (Buying Department) for Lidl and a Category Planner for the leading grocery technology company, Getir. Grant’s experience in expanding existing and prospective institutional investor relationships will be indispensable to Vertical Future as it continues to grow. Svetlana will utilise her expertise with quality fresh produce, to support Vertical Future’s continuing push to partner with suppliers in the fresh food retail industry. 

Jamie Burrows, Founder & CEO of Vertical Future, commented: “We are very pleased to welcome Mark and his experienced team to Vertical Future. Mark’s expertise in leading global teams and working with investors will be invaluable to Vertical Future as we continue to expand our network of clients across multiple continents. Business Development is a fundamental component of the business as we continue to build advanced vertical farms, encompassing proprietary hardware and software – improving planetary and population health through innovative solutions, data, and deal structures.”

Photo: Mark Pickering

Source: