The Estonia-based startup FlyFeed has recently raised EUR 3 million (USD 30,90,705) to research on feeding the globe by sustainably obtaining insect protein. In order to begin operations, the business will now build an industrial-sized insect farm in Vietnam.
One of the most important difficulties facing both the present and future generations is how to feed the world’s ever-growing population while navigating the current economic, geopolitical, and ecological crises. This requirement has led to foodtech and agritech businesses and inventors creating new protein substitutes and eco-friendly farming and gardening techniques. FlyFeed now wants to utilize insects to change the world’s food supply chain.
The startup has already agreed to pre-contracts worth more than EUR 10 million with leading European food producers, and it will use this money to launch operations, enhance technological solutions, and construct the first industrial-sized farm in Vietnam in 2023, producing affordable proteins, oils and fertilizers from insects.
The farm in Vietnam is expected to produce over 17.5 thousand tonnes of insect products each year and to process up to 40 thousand tonnes of organic waste from fruits, vegetables, coffee, and grain. The land for plant construction has been approved by Vietnamese authorities, adding 200 new jobs in the country.
According to Arseniy Olkhovskiy, CEO and creator of FlyFeed, five billion dollars invested in Agtech 2021 indicate the need for change in the vulnerable global food chain which relies on limited natural resources. In this situation, insect proteins are a practical remedy that can convert unpalatable resources into nutritious proteins. The startup also aims to open ten farms in Asia and Africa by 2026, supported by laboratory tests and approved by local governments.
FlyFeed was established less than a year ago in the Estonian capital of Tallinn, targeting three billion people who are suffering from food shortages due to climate change and global financial shifts.
(Sources: EU-Startup, Techcrunch)
