FarmInsect wants to breed insects as animal feed

The Munich-based start-up has received millions in funding. Now it wants to use it to build the first larvae breeding facility.

A seven-figure sum for insect breeding: High-Tech Gründerfonds, Bayern Kapital and business angels put a million-dollar sum into FarmInsect from Munich. The start-up wants to breed insects that are then fed to animals. This would enable farmers to become less dependent on animal feed suppliers and, in particular, significantly reduce the amount of soy feed from South America, which has come under criticism - at least that's the idea. "We see ourselves as a partner of farmers to be able to produce regional and very sustainable protein feed for pigs, chickens and fish," says Thomas Kuehn, founder and CEO of FarmInsect. "Our goal is to replace fishmeal and soy 100 percent with insect larvae."

FarmInsect sells fattening systems that farmers can set up on their own farms. The protein-rich black soldier flies are fed on waste, such as crop residues, which farmers produce anyway. This is intended to strengthen the regional circular economy and is cost-effective. FarmInsect promises 50 percent CO2 savings. In addition, farmers are expected to save a third of their feed costs. For investors, this is a "promising business model with enormous scaling potential," says Maximilian Bock, investment manager at High-Tech Gründerfonds. "FarmInsect can thus already operate economically compared to the competition and make a noteworthy contribution against resource scarcity and climate change."

FarmInsect was founded in 2019 by three students from the Technical University of Munich Thomas Kuehn, Wolfgang Westermeier and Andre Klöckner. The first mass-produced fattening systems are to be delivered this year. Farmers will be supplied with young larvae, which the start-up will breed with the capital in a new facility.