Entobel secured USD 30 million (EUR 28.8 million) in investment during the latest funding round and formed a new partnership with Adisseo.
Entobel is an insect-based aquafeed producer registered in Singapore with operations in Vietnam. 9 May, Vietnam-focused equity firm, Mekong Capital announced its private equity fund, Mekong Enterprise Fund IV, contributed USD 25 million (EUR 23.7 million) to Entobel, while Dragon Capital, another Vietnam-focused investment platform, invested the remaining USD 5 million (EUR 4.7 million) raised by Entobel in the round.The funds will be allocated to construction of a new plant in Vietnam to grow black soldier flies for use in aquafeed.
“We are proud to partner with Mekong Capital and Dragon Capital to build a world-class plant before replicating the model globally. We are convinced our capital efficient and robust technology is the right approach to massive scaling up,” Entobel Co-Founders Gaetan Crielaard and Alexandre de Caters said in a joint statement. “With our growing blue-chip customer base as well as world class industrial partnerships for breakthrough R&D activities including new product developments, we ensure our market relevance and competitiveness in the long run.”
Since 2019, Entobel operated an insect-production plant in the southern province of Dong Nai in Vietnam, producing black soldier fly larvae used in animal feed. The factory has an annual capacity of 1,000 metric tons (MT) of insect meal. Entobel said they plan to begin operations at its yet-to-be-constructed plant by 2023, with a vision of becoming a major global insect protein producer.
“We believe in the founders, Gaetan and Alexandre, who showed so much grit and perseverance to build one of the largest insect protein production companies in the world today, starting from a small farm in the Mekong Delta to a large industrial facility in Dong Nai,” Mekong Capital Deal Leader Sjoerd Zwinkels said. “They have proven that insect derived ingredients can be produced on an industrial scale with high quality and being cost-effective compared to fishmeal.”
Dragon Capital Head of Principal Investments Duong Do Quyen said Entobel’s products are sustainable, high-quality, a cost-effective alternative to animal feed, animal-based oil, and fertilizer sources, especially fishmeal in aquafeed.
Vietnam’s top pangasius company, Vinh Hoan, announced a strategic partnership with Entobel in October 2021.
On 4 May, Entobel announced a research collaboration with Adisseo, an animal nutrition firm with a specialty in feed additives.
“The success of insect production and its adoption by our customers will be depending on its competitivity, volume availability, and its quality over time. For that, there is a need for transformation in the rearing process based on optimal insect growth performance and producing a meal and oil with good nutritional value, whatever the type and quality of the raw material needed to feed insects,” Adisseo said in a press release. “Entobel has a long expertise in insect production and processing, one of the most advanced and agile insect players in Asia with more than two years of stable production track record on its current site in South Vietnam. Entobel demonstrates already great stability of its feed formulation and thus was the perfect partner to optimize further with Adisseo additives portfolio.”
Photo courtesy of Entobel
