August 24, 2022

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Estimates are that as much as a third of all arable land on Earth is used to make animal feed. This has traditionally been in the form of unsustainable soy and other crops that are largely responsible for deforestation at their point of production, and for significant carbon emissions due to their long distance transport. 

Meanwhile, the EPA outlines that every year, food loss and waste reflects:

~ 140 million acres of agricultural land, or the size of the states of New York and California combined.

~ 22 trillion gallons of water, or the equivalent of water usage for 50 million homes.

~ 6,350 million kg (14 billion pounds) of fertilizer – or enough to produce all plant-based foods in the U.S. for domestic consumption.

~ 664 billion kWh – enough energy to power 50 million U.S. homes for a year.

~ 170 million MTCO2e GHG emissions (not including emissions from landfills) – or the equivalent to the annual GHG emissions from 42 coal-fired power plants.

~ And enough calories to feed more than 150 million people each year. 

However, imagine a system that not only addresses both of these vast challenges, but also increases the income of smallholder farmers, and leverages the power of biotechnology to produce value-added nutrients and ingredients for B2B customers. That is what IIT Roorkee graduates Ankit Alok Bagaria and Abhi Gawri have done through the creation of Loopworm, the leading insect biotech startup in India.

Omnivore and WaterBridge Ventures have come together in support of the company, co-leading $3.4 million in Seed funding that also included Titan Capital and top angel investors including Nadir Godrej of Godrej Agrovet, Sanjiv Rangrass (ex-ITC), and Akshay Singhal of Log9 Materials.

For Omnivore, this investment was its second made under its OmniX Bio initiative, launched to back early-stage agrifood life science startups. 

“Omnivore is delighted to back Loopworm under our OmniX Bio initiative, which seeks to blaze a path forward for agrifood life sciences in India,” said Mark Khan, managing partner, Omnivore. “Loopworm sees massive potential in transforming cultivated insects into value-added nutrients and ingredients, and Omnivore believes the company will quickly become one of India’s leading biotech startups.”

Founded in 2019 in Bangalore, India, Loopworm uses multi-species biotechnology to upcycle food waste into protein-rich nutrients and value-added ingredients, forming a circular economy benefiting multiple sectors including aquaculture, pet food, and nutraceuticals.

Emulating the course the poultry industry has taken in India, Loopworm is building decentralized insect rearing operations in partnership with smallholder farmers.

Over the next five years, the company is targeting the annual production of 300,000 tons of sustainable insect-based protein through their circular platform, creating value from 7.5 million tons of food waste and agricultural byproducts. 

With the capital from this round, Loopworm stated that it intends to establish its first Loop Factory in North Bangalore, expand its team, and to accelerate its R&D initiatives, including the building of world-class laboratories.

“We are excited to see Ankit and Abhi solving for sustainable and scalable food resources which are traceable and hence easier for mainstream adoption,” said Ashish Jain, partner, WaterBridge Ventures. “Loopworm, sitting at the cusp of climate-tech and food-tech, has the potential to continue moving up the value chain as its product suite evolves and emerges as a truly scaled player.”

~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Unconventional Ag. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

*The content put forth by Global AgInvesting News and its parent company HighQuest Partners is intended to be used and must be used for informational purposes only. All information or other material herein is not to be construed as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. Global AgInvesting and HighQuest Partners are not a fiduciary in any manner, and the reader assumes the sole responsibility of evaluating the merits and risks associated with the use of any information or other content on this site.