France-based agtech developer Ÿnsect secured $125m in a series C round on Thursday that featured sugar producer Finasucre and was led by impact investment firm Astanor Ventures.
The round included state-owned investment bank Bpifrance, through Bpifrance Ecotechnologies and Bpifrance Large Venture, as well as impact investment firm Quadia, private equity firms Demeter and Idinvest Partners and venture fund Vis Vires New Protein Ventures.
Venture capital firms Talis Capital and Happiness Capital, financial services firms Crédit Agricole Brie Picardie and regional investment funds Caisse d’Epargne Hauts-de-France and Picardie Investissement also backed the round.
Investment company Compagnie du Bois Sauvage and an unnamed Singaporean family office filled out the round.
Founded in 2011, Ÿnsect breeds insects to use them as fish feed, pet food and organic plant fertilisers. The company produces two products – ŸnMeal, extracted from mealworms for fish feed, and ŸnFrass, made from mealworm castings for fertiliser.
The series C money will go towards scaling up production at Ÿnsect’s insect farm in northern France and driving international expansion efforts, with a key focus on opening an additional factory in North America.
Eric Archambeau, co-founder of Astanor Ventures, will join Ÿnsect’s board of directors.
Ÿnsect has now raised a total of $175m in funding, according to its latest press release. It previously disclosed a $15.2m funding round in 2016 co-led by Future Positive Capital and Bpifrance Ecotechnologies that it said brought its total equity to $37m.
Emertec, Demeter, VisVires New Protein Capital and assorted business angels also contributed to the 2016 round as existing shareholders.
Ÿnsect’s first funding round occurred in 2014, when Demeter and Emertec injected €1.8m ($2.5m) together with several private investors.
