Insect protein producer gets funding to scale up
DANISH insect protein business Enorm Biofactory has raised
50m (£42m) in a funding round that will enable it to scale up its production by 70 times.
Enorm produces insect protein from black soldier fly larvae for animal and aquafeed. The company’s facility currently has an output of three tonnes per week, but the latest funding round opens the way for an expanded factory producing around 11,000 tonnes annually.
Among new shareholders is DLG, one of Europe’s largest agribusiness companies.
The financing round also includes loans from the Danish Green Investment Fund and Nykredit Bank.
Enorm’s CEO, Carsten Lind Pedersen, said: “With our current suppliers and cooperation partners, and DLG as a shareholder, we have a strong foundation to develop Enorm to commercial scale.”
The fly larvae feed on residual biomass from the food industry, concentrate nutrients and can be processed into ingredients rich in protein and fat as a sustainable alternative to traditional sources of feed. The ingredients can be used as feed for pigs, poultry, fish and pets, and potentially even for humans.
The company said feeding trials with
Enorm insect meal at the National Institute of Aquatic Resources at the Technical University of Denmark had showed promising protein digestibility for trout and tilapia.
Enorm Biofactory is planning to use products from the pilot plant to explore and validate the potential for further different applications for feed and food.