Plenty of commentators—and jaundiced investors—may query the economics of insect agriculture given the struggles of some high-profile players. But what about the touted environmental benefits? Is it a given that it is more sustainable to feed animals insect protein than, say, corn or soybean meal?
“Materials are much more forgiving than protein isolates for food,” Brett Cotten tells AgFunderNews.
Afterlife Ag collects food waste from restaurants to grow gourmet mushrooms it then sells back to restaurateurs, creating a circular solution.
“We have the financial model, investors, and playbook to scale rapidly,” says the Sweden-based company.
The race is on to find cheaper and more sustainable feedstocks to fuel the bioeconomy, says Hyfe cofounder and CEO Michelle Ruiz.
What will it take to make the economics of precision fermentation stack up for a wider range of bioproducts such that they can compete with low-margin, high volume products derived from petrochemicals or industrialized animal agriculture?
ReFED’s Dana Gunders discusses why interest in food waste solutions from US businesses, investors and consumers remains high.
Industrial-scale insect farming is not for the faint-hearted. So what business models make sense, and who is going to fund the next wave of facilities?
“In the first six years, we had more failures than successes,” says insect ag pioneer Kees Aarts.
Despite its ubiquity, attractive amino acid profile and functional bona fides, RuBisCO has not become the plant protein of choice for the food industry. Israeli startup Day 8 hopes to change that…
Industrial-scale insect farming is not for the faint-hearted. So what business models make sense, and who is going to fund the next wave of facilities?
A spinoff from VTT in Finland, Enifer is targeting human food, petfood, and aquaculture markets with its mycoprotein, produced from a fungal strain first commercialized in the 1970s.
ReFarm and FoodTech Valley will build a circular, closed-loop system to boost UAE food security and decarbonize food production.
Toopi Organics will collect and convert more than 2 million liters of urine for its biostumulant that reduces need for mineral fertilizers.
The companies will provide expertise, equipment and services for converting organic waste into BSF larvae used for protein in animal feed.
Canadian startup Terra Bioindustries extracts fermentable sugars and protein concentrates from brewers’ spent grains.
Hyfé, a Chicago-based startup transforming food processing wastewater into feedstocks for biomanufacturing and clean water, has raised a $9 million seed round led by Synthesis Capital.
Nestlé is partnering with VC firm the Yield Lab Latam to support agtech startups in Latam and bolster its own sustainability goals.
The sustainability credentials of microbial fermentation—used to make everything from lactic acid to ‘animal-free’ whey protein—would be greatly enhanced were the technology less dependent on food crops to produce its primary feedstock: sugar. But how viable are the alternatives?
Investors should view the current tech industry downturn as an opportunity to funnel more patient capital one area holding strong: climate tech.
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