By Nick Hedley
Innovafeed, which farms insects to produce animal and plant
feed, has raised $250 million in a series D funding round led by the Qatar
Investment Authority and supported by Singapore’s Temasek and others.
Innovafeed said in a statement it would use the capital to
expand its Nesle site in the north of France, the world’s largest vertical
insect farm. It operates two vertical farms in the country.
It would also accelerate its international expansion,
notably in the U.S., where it is building a production plant in Decatur, Ill.
“At a time when conservation of our natural resources and
the preservation of our environment are becoming an absolute necessity, we are
convinced that the insect industry is a key solution for our planet’s food
production needs,” said Clément Ray, co-founder and CEO of Innovafeed.
In addition to the Qatar Investment Authority and Temasek,
the capital raise was supported by French private equity firm Creadev,
agribusiness groups ADM and Cargill, as well as Future French Champions, ABC
Impact, IDIA Capital Investissement, and Grow Forward.
La Caisse d’Epargne Hauts de France, Groupe Crédit Agricole,
BNP Paribas, Arkéa Banque Entreprises et Institutionnels and Société Générale
also contributed via €38 million (US$37.5 million) in debt financing.
This brings Innovafeed’s total cumulative financing to $450
million.
“Our expansion in the U.S. is a critical step for our
scale-up,” said Maye Walraven, US General Manager, Innovafeed. “It will enable
us to access a deep source of feedstock and significantly increase our
production capacity.”
Dr. Darian McBain, president of Innovafeed’s new impact
committee, said the insect industry will play a “key role” in the development
of sustainable food systems.
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