December 15, 2016

Paris-based mass-scale breeder and producer of insects for the livestock, pet, and fish feed markets, Ynsect, has raised $15.2 million through a Series B led by Future Positive Capital, Quadia SA and Bpifrance Ecotechnologies and including existing investors, Emertec, Demeter, Vis Vires New Protein Capital and Business Angels.

This round brings the company’s total raised funding to $37 million over the past three years – the largest investment in the sector to date.

The announcement follows directly behind the EU representative endorsement of a proposal by the European Commission to allow insects as a component of feed for the aquaculture industry as of July 2017.

“This is a huge development for insect protein producers and it give us the means to secure investment and build bigger capacity so we can generate more volumes over the next two years,” Antoine Hubert, CEO of Ynsect and president of the International Platform for Insects for Food and Feed (IPIFF) told Feed Navigator.

Ynsect credits the IPIFF with being a driving force behind the approval, which the company calls a “game changer.”

Founded in 2011 by Alexis Angot, Fabrice Berro, Antoine Hubert, and Jean Gabriel Levon Ynsect uses proprietary technology that combines robotics with artificial intelligence. Ynsect farms mealworm larvae as well as other insects to create its main product, Tenebrio molitor protein, or ‘TMP’ – a defatted protein meal that has 72 percent protein content on par with the highest grade fish meal. It has also been shown to positively benefit animal growth and health when substituted for fish meal in rations.

“Few people today are aware of how the animals they eat have been fed,” explains Ynsect CEO Antoine Hubert, “…farmed animals mostly consume GM soya, grains, and sometimes poultry feather meal, as well as fish meal. It was fish meal, in particular, which caught our attention…Fish meal is derived from catches of small fish, the global supply of which is under duress due to overfishing. In turn, that’s causing severe depletion of ocean biodiversity and leading to food safety concerns…”

Ynsect plants to use the capital to fund the expansion of capacity at Ynsite, its facility in Jura, France and to undertake the initial stages of engineering for a large-scale production facility that will have the ability to produce 20,000 tons of insect protein per year.

Once operational, Ynsect told Feed Navigator that it expects major animal feed companies to come on board as customers as output increases and regulatory issues are resolved.

The IPIFF is also envisioning the future of the sector, and is considering advocating to get insect protein approved for inclusion in feed rations for non-ruminant livestock such as pigs and poultry.

“Ynsect is a true pioneer in breeding insects for animal feed and has established itself as the frontrunner in the rapid development of this market,” said Gilles Schang, Deputy Managing Director Ecotechnology Investments at Bpifrance Investment. “We are delighted to be positioning ourselves alongside the company’s founders and management in order to make Ynsect the global leader of disruptive agro-food technologies and to deploy worldwide the expertise they have developed in France.”

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Lynda Kiernan