“Money, money, money [and it’s] always sunny” in Innovafeed’s world. The insect producer happily raised $250M in a Series D funding round, which both ADM and Cargill joined.
What’s the buzz? Innovafeed is a leader in the production of black soldier flies for animal and plant nutrition. The company is building a zero waste and circular agri-food chain by replicating the insect’s natural role.
The company’s total financing is up to $450M, which will make a global technology rollout possible. Additionally, the bags of Benjamins will be invested in R&D for the development of high-performance ingredients for animals, plants, and somewhere down the road, even humans.
A little buggy: Innovafeed currently boasts a wide offering of products, including everything from insect protein for aquaculture, insect oil for pigs and poultry, and a completely natural fertilizer from insect droppings (as fertilizer costs continue to rise, perhaps the answer is the by-product of black soldier flies?!).
“Mo’ money, mo’ problems flies.” Founded in Paris in 2016, Innovafeed has two vertical insect farms in the north of France. The latest round of funding will allow Innovafeed to finish constructing these farms—one of which they claim is the largest of its kind in the world.
Closer to home, Innovafeed confirmed its U.S. expansion with a production plant in Decatur, Illinois in partnership with ADM. Innovafeed previously said the facility would be ready by 2024.
They also hope to build ten farms similar to those in France by the end of the decade.
Soundbite: “Our expansion in the United States is a critical step for our scale-up,” said newly appointed general manager for the North American market, Maye Walraven. “It will enable us to access a deep source of feedstock and significantly increase our production capacity.”