Singapore-based alternative protein company, INSEACT, officially opened the doors to its facility in Singapore in a ceremony attended by government representatives alongside investors and industry partners.
INSEACT founders, Tim Van Vliet and Michael Badeski, were joined in cutting the ribbon by the Malaysian Deputy High Commissioner (Mr. Muhammad Radzi Bin Jamaludin), Ambassador for the Kingdom of the Netherlands (H.E. Margriet Vonno), and Principal Investment Specialist (Mr. Teo Yee Hean) of Asian Development Bank, one of INSEACT’s lead investor. Guests then toured the newly opened site, Singapore’s most advanced and largest insect protein facility.
After receiving the keys to the completely empty site in September 2021, INSEACT completed construction and equipment installation and set up production and R&D activities in only four months, while remaining 10% under budget. In just the first few weeks of ramping up in December 2021, the colony produced 60 million insects.
INSEACT specializes in producing sustainable insect protein for aquaculture, starting with shrimp farming. It uses waste from palm oil operations as a raw material to feed the insects. The new facility adapts engineering technologies used across other manufacturing and farming industries to lay the foundation for large-scale expansion of its operations. Its processes run on an amalgamation of machinery and equipment sourced internationally, including from the Netherlands where the insect industry has grown a steady footprint this past decade.
Michael Badeski, COO, said that “the past twelve months have seen INSEACT go from zero to one, as the first step of our roadmap was achieved by transitioning our protein production from an idea to an operational reality. Last January, the company had no employees, only partially secured seed funding, and neither Tim nor myself were located in Singapore. Today, we are producing insect protein from the most advanced and fastest-built insect pilot facility in Singapore.”
Tim van Vliet, CEO of INSEACT, added that “the insect protein space is booming globally. INSEACT differentiates itself using palm oil waste: a more sustainable, affordable and scalable feedstock. In addition, our modular technology enables fast and low-cost scaling. Also, through our industry partners, we have unique access into the aquaculture space.”
INSEACT’s new facility is but a precursor of things to come, as it serves as proof-of-concept for larger-scale operations, is a sandbox for innovation, and offers research capabilities to continue optimizing the underlying science for years to come. The startup is currently designing its first commercial-scale facility to be built in Malaysia later this year.
