Singapore-based Inseact has raised USD 1.3 million (EUR 1.1 million) in an oversubscribed seed funding round that will help it advanced plans to become a producer of insect-based aquaculture feed.
In a press release, Inseact said it will use the seed funding to build a pilot production and research site in Singapore and to begin delivering product to customers. Focused on shrimp feed, INSEACT uses waste from palm oil operations as a raw material for its insect propagation.
Backers of the fundraising round include ADB Ventures, the Asian Development Bank’s venture capital arm, along with an anonymous company identified by Inseact as “one of the largest global shrimp producers.”
Other investors include Loyal VC and INSEAD Asia Angels Club, a group attached to the Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires (INSEAD) graduate business school.
Djames Lim, the CEO of Lim Shrimp Organization, which operates more than 40,000 hectares of shrimp ponds in Asia, is listed by the company as an advisor, as well as Cliff Go, the founder of Swaen Capital, a Singapore-licensed wealth management fund.
“Our customers are seeing conclusive evidence of shrimp-growth benefits from our protein products, leading to significant cost savings and reduced feed consumption,” Inseact CEO Tim van Vliet said. “Inseact is strategically positioned in the Asian market, home to almost the entire global production of farmed seafood. With the increasing cost basis of outdated fish and shrimp farming practices, we are receiving snowballing demand and plan to achieve industrial-scale insect protein production in record time.”
Inseact describes itself as a “carbon negative and zero-waste” operation. Its production process involves redirecting waste streams from palm oil production away from carbon-emitting landfills to be bio- converted by black soldier flies. Aside from aquaculture feed, the firm produces insect oil for livestock feed and organic fertilizer for farming.
“The insect industry today is still young and innovating quickly, meaning production methods a few years from now will be vastly different from what we see now,” Inseact COO Michael Badeski said. “Flexibility-by-design in the way we scale production keeps us nimble to maintain industry-leading efficiency.”
The firm puts annual growth of the aquaculture feed market at 13.3 percent and tips the market to reach USD 156 billion (EUR 134 billion) globally by 2022, of which 89 percent is in Asia.
“Alternative proteins will play a critical role in addressing Asia's growing need for sustainable and affordable food supply,” ADB Ventures Venture Specialist Kean Ng said. “We believe Insecct’s unique solution and approach has a real potential to scale. ADB Ventures is excited about backing the team at INSEACT and support them to become a leading player in this fast-paced space.”
Photo courtesy of Inseact
