Ÿnsect, the ag-tech innovator that specializes in breeding insects and transforming them into premium ingredients for fish feed, pet food and organic plant fertilizers, announces that it has raised a $125 million (€110m) Series C round to scale up production by building the world’s biggest insect farm in Amiens Metropole, Northern France and develop the company internationally, particularly in the North American market. Ÿnsect’s largest farm to date will produce around 20,000 tons of protein annually. Led by Astanor Ventures and backed by established international funds including Bpifrance, Talis Capital, Idinvest Partners, Finasucre and Compagnie du Bois Sauvage, this investment is the largest-ever ag-tech funding deal outside of the United States.

Ÿnsect is a young French company that leads the global field in farming insects and turning them into premium, high-value ingredients. The company farms Molitor, small common beetles known as mealworms. The Molitor is indeed the only insect that can be raised at large scale and the sole species to ensure the delivery of premium unique products such as ŸnMeal which delivers sustainable, premium nutrition for animals. ŸnMeal is the only product worldwide with proven nutritional performance and health benefits for shrimp, salmon, trout, and sea-bass.

“Ÿnsect is becoming the world’s largest insect producer, whatever the species, thanks to our unique highly scalable and pioneering technology,” says Antoine Hubert, Ÿnsect CEO & Chairman. “Enabled by deep tech, the entire production process, from feeding to controlling the health and welfare of our insects and from the sensors used for quality control to harvesting mature insects, is automated. We have 25 patents covering our technology, the products themselves and their different applications, giving Ÿnsect the world's largest insect patent portfolio. But ultimately, we need scale to have a significant impact globally, which this investment will allow us to achieve.”

“By offering an insect protein alternative to traditional animal and fish-based feed sources, Ÿnsect can help offset the growing competition for ocean fish stock required to feed two billion more people by 2050, while alleviating fish, water and soil depletion, as well as agriculture’s staggering 25% share of global greenhouse gas emissions,” says Antoine Hubert. “Our goal is simply to give insects back their natural place in the food chain.”