Enterra Feed Inc., a Vancouver-based fertilizer and animal feed company, has announced it closed a $5 million venture-funding round with Avrio Capital.
“It’s particularly rewarding to play a role in facilitating the sustainable recapture of high quality food nutrients so close to home,” said Brad Marchant, CEO of Enterra. “Our region has always been open to innovative and sustainable technologies, and this is another example of our local thought leadership, which is now attracting national and international interest.”
Collecting pre-consumer food waste, Enterra provides a “concierge” service to commercial venues looking to participate. Enterra then converts the waste into nutrient-rich products by using an insect-based process to produce natural protein, oils and fertilizer.
Enterra says that the funding will be used to ramp up a commercial-scale pilot facility in Langley, BC, and will begin operating in the second quarter of 2014. The facility is designed to handle 54,000 tonnes of pre-consumer waste each year.
Already operating with several Canadian food stores such as Overwaitea Food Group, T&T Supermarket Inc., Star Produce Ltd., Enterra plans to expand its operations throughout Canada and the U.S.
The news of the funding from Avrio comes on the heels of the agricultural-investment firm’s plans to form a $125-million fund. Previous fund-sizes ranged from $75 million to $100 million, making this fund the firm’s largest yet, according to a report from The Globe and Mail.
It seems while Enterra is ramping up their scale, Aviro is, too.
FEATURED PHOTO: Luz Adriana Villa/Flickr
