Alantra advised Ynsect on the €14.2m capital raise from Future Positive Capital and Bpifrance

Dec 2016

Capital raise

Value €14.2 million

Alantra, the global investment banking firm, is pleased to announce that it has advised Ynsect, the global leader in the mass-scale breeding of insects for the animal feed markets on the capital raise of €14.2m Series B round led by Future Positive Capital, Quadia SA and Bpifrance Ecotechnologies, with participation from existing investors Emertec, Demeter, Vis Vires New Protein Capital, and Business Angels. This latest round brings the cumulative amount Ynsect has raised, from private and public sources, to $37m over the last three years – the largest-ever investment in the sector.

The announcement comes as EU member states endorsed a European Commission proposal to allow the wider use of insect proteins in animal feed. A vote taken during a session of the EU Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (SCoPAFF), clears the way for insect proteins to be used in fish feed in Europe from July 2017. This initiative is an industry game-changer, the decision was brought about in large part thanks to the advocacy work of the International Platform for Insects for Food and Feed (IPIFF), of which Ynsect’s CEO Antoine Hubert is President.

Founded in 2011 in Paris, France with the vision of placing insect-derived protein at the heart of the agri-food system to sustainably address the growing global demand for meat and fish, Ÿnsect transforms insects into premium, high-value ingredients for pets, fish, plants, and human beings. From its purpose-built state of the art farms, Ÿnsect offers an organic, long-term sustainable solution to accelerate consumption of protein and plants. Due to its negative carbon activity, the company uses pioneering proprietary technology protected globally by c.300 patents to produce Molitor and Buffalo mealworms in vertical farms.

This transaction was led by Managing Partner of Alantra in France, Franck Noat.