French insect company Ÿnsect filed a safeguard plan as it failed to find enough financing for expansion plans, Reuters reported.

“Facing a complex economic and financial conjecture, which is characterized by the drying up of funding usually directed to high-growth companies, Ÿnsect has obtained the opening of a ‘procédure de sauvegarde’,” the company said in a statement.

Safeguarding facilitates the reorganization of the company to allow economic activity to continue, jobs to be maintained and debts to be paid.

The company has raised over EUR 600 million to date to farm insects and transform them into proteins. In 2023, it refocused on high-margin pet food and food ingredients to boost profit amid a high-cost environment.

In 2024, Ÿnsect had been looking to secure funding for several months to fund the launch of its first industrial plant Ÿnfarm, a 45 m2 site to produce 200,000 tonnes of insect protein per year, local news reported. The company was looking for funding to cover the farm’s fixed costs.