US-based feed producer Calysta has raised $39m in a series D-1 round led by oil and gas provider BP’s corporate venturing unit, BP Ventures.
Animal feed producer Adisseo also took part in the round, as did AquaSpark, WTI and unnamed existing investors.
Founded in 2011, Calysta produces animal feed for pets, livestock and fish from fermenting natural gas, a process which requires no arable land, little water and does not compete with the human food chain.
The funding will be used to scale the company’s FeedKind protein line, financing the scoping and pre-development of a new manufacturing site. It aims to build out a production capacity of 20,000 tonnes per year by 2022 through an existing 50-50 joint venture with Adisseo called Calysseo.
BP Ventures made its first investment in the company through a $30m injection in mid 2019. It followed a $40m series D round in 2017 led by diversified conglomerate Mitsui that also featured agribusiness Cargill, Temasek, Municipal Employee Retirement System of Michigan, AquaSpark and Walden Riverwood Ventures.
The last three had also invested in a $30m series C round for the company in 2016 alongside Cargill, Pangaea Ventures and Old Westburg Global Real Asset Fund. It had previously received $13m across two rounds from investors including Walden Riverwood, Aqua-Spark and Pangaea Ventures.
Thomas Huot, chief operating officer of Calysta, said: “In expanding FeedKind production beyond the current growth strategy in Asia, we are aiming to continue to convert low-cost natural gas resources into high-value, environmentally-friendly protein alternatives.
“Global food and protein supply chains have never been more challenged, thanks to increasing land and water scarcity coupled with an ever-growing global population.
“FeedKind makes more from less by utilising the abundant natural gas resources to produce feed for fish, livestock and pets, reducing the pressure on our oceans and arable land for non-animal feed production.”
