South Africa’s AgriProtein, a maker of insect-based protein feed, extruded oil and fertilisers, has raised $17.5 million in capital, bringing its total private funds raised to roughly $30 million.
The funding elevates the company’s value to $117 million and will assist with its expansion into Europe, the Americas and Asia, according to a prepared statement.
“[The funding] enables AgriProtein to meet growing demand from animal feed suppliers for an alternative to fishmeal, widely used in the poultry and fish farming industries,” the statement read. “Our fly larvae product is already enjoyed by our consumers – the millions of happy chickens and fish around the world – for whom it’s a natural source of protein.”
AgriProtein uses dried, milled and de-fatted larvae produced by waste-fed black soldier flies to produce its MagOil and MagMeal feeds, which the firm considers a sustainable, natural protein that can be applied large-scale.
“Insect larvae are the natural food of chickens in the wild and fish in streams,” according to the firm’s website. “Their nutritional composition is as good as that of fishmeal and better than soya. As a natural food it has excellent take on and digestibility properties.”
The company opened a 9,000 sq meter factory in Cape Town, South Africa this year, which at full capacity will produce 7 tonnes of MagMeal, three tonnes of MagOil and 20 tonnes of MagSoil, a soil enhancer, per day.
Locations for a second factory, which the latest funding will help construct, are currently under evaluation. The firm was not immediately available for additional comment.
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