Ynsect has raised USD 175 million since its inception in 2011 and says it has orders for USD 70 million for the next four years.

Ag-tech company plans to install 'the world’s biggest insect farm'

FRANCE
Saturday, February 23, 2019, 02:10 (GMT + 9)

Ÿnsect, a new ag-tech company that specializes in breeding insects and transforming them into premium ingredients for fish feed, pet food and organic plant fertilizers, announced it raised a USD 125 million in a financing round

The start-up annonced it will use that money to build "the world’s biggest insect farm" in Amiens Metropole, Northern France, and develop the company internationally, particularly in the North American market.

Ÿnsect creates insect-based feed for plants, animals and fish. (Credit: Ÿnsect)

The company stressed that this investment, led by Astanor Ventures and backed by established international funds including Bpifrance, Talis Capital, Idinvest Partners, Finasucre and Compagnie du Bois Sauvage, represents the largest-ever ag-tech funding deal outside of the United States.

(Photo: Ÿnsect)

Ÿnsect’s farm will produce around 20,000 tonnes of protein annually. Alongside this new facility at Amiens, the investment will also enable the company to step up their international expansion programme by opening a new factory in North America.

The ag-tech startup points out that about half the fish we eat today comes from aquaculture, and continues to grow at an accelerated pace throughout the world. But this makes it necessary to look for substitutes for fishmeal, which is the main source of food for farmed fish, to avoid the depletion of fish resources.

 Ynsect Premium Natural Feed Présentation

As part of their natural diet, wild fish and crustaceans eat insects, which deliver an important source of high-quality protein and polyunsaturated fats,so Ÿnsect decided to concentrate on Tenebrio molitor production, small common beetles known as mealworms.

On that regard, it highlights that "Molitor is the only insect that can be raised at large scale and the only species that can guarantee the delivery of exclusive premium products ".

One of these products is ŸnMeal,  a protein extracted from Tenebrio molitor larvae that according to the company, has proven nutritional performance and health benefits for shrimp, salmon, trout, and sea-bass.

Another product is ŸnFrass, a protein made from Molitor larvae castings, a premium fertilizer that also has proven positive effects on many different plants.

Antoine Hubert, Ÿnsect CEO & Chairman

The company has 25 patents covering its technology, the products themselves and their different applications, which it says "gives Ÿnsect the world's largest patent portfolio of insects", but aims to have a significant global impact that awaits achieve with the new funds to invest.

Since its creation in 2011, Ÿnsect has managed to raise a total of USD 175 million.

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