French insect ag pioneer Ÿnsect has received an offer from an undisclosed party for its pilot plant in Dole and secured €10m in bridge funding from existing investors allowing it to remain operational while it seeks more funding.
CEO Shankar Krishnamoorthy has been replaced by Emmanuel Pinto, a partner at French turnaround advisory D&I.
The firm, which entered insolvency proceedings in February after failing to secure financing under a safeguard plan agreed with a commercial court in Evry last year, is currently under judicial administration and has been “actively seeking one or more buyers as part of a sale plan.”
A company spokesperson told AgFunderNews: “An expression of interest for the partial takeover of the Dole site was received by Ÿnsect as part of its call for tenders, which closed on April 3. It is currently under review, and the court will issue a decision during an upcoming hearing at the end of May.”
The €10 million ($11.3 million) in funding “will allow the company to finance ongoing operations, including production and customer deliveries, as well as discussions with potential investors over the coming months.”
New CEO Emmanuel Pinto is “a seasoned professional in supporting companies in distress, ” added the spokesperson. “He will be responsible for guiding the company through this period and working with shareholders to find long-term solutions within the framework of the ongoing procedure.”
More funding essential to achieve scale to ‘ensure profitability’
Founded in 2011 by Antoine Hubert and Alexis Angot, Ÿnsect has raised almost $600 million over the past 13 years from investors including Astanor, BPI France, Crédit Agricole, Upfront, and Robert Downey Jr.’s Footprint Coalition.
The firm, which honed its mealworm farming process at a pilot facility in Dole, France, started protein production at a large-scale facility in Amiens, France, last summer, but needs to secure more funding to get to a scale whereby it can “ensure profitability.”
According to a tender offer issued in January, Ÿnsect’s revenue was €5.8 million ($6 million) in 2023 with third-party liabilities of approximately €104 million ($108 million) excluding bonds. “The figures for 2024 are not consolidated for the moment,” said the spokesperson.
The company, which has 214 employees at facilities in Amiens, Dôle, Evry, and Paris, said it needed to secure about €130 million ($135 million), excluding liabilities, to achieve target revenues of €131 million ($137 million) in 2028.
