Proteine Resources will use the funds from the European Innovation Council Accelerator to scale up production of sustainable pet food made from insect protein instead of beef.
Proteine Resources, a Masłomiąca, Poland-based insect protein producer, has secured €9.5m in financing from the European Innovation Council Accelerator to build an insect protein factory driven by artificial intelligence that produces ingredients to make meat-free pet food.
The new carbon-negative plant will turn by-products from the mushroom industry into protein-rich amino acids that can be used to make pet food for cats and dogs.
This process reduces waste disposal costs for mushroom growers, who spend up to €80,000 on average a year to dispose of residual stems and mycelium. And unlike traditional farming methods, where 40% of feed is wasted, its closed-loop system uses 100% of agricultural inputs for production, according to Proteine Resources.
“We help to turn a problem into a profit centre, in a way that’s measurable and emissions-neutral,” said Bart Roszkowski, CEO of Proteine Resources.
The EIC Accelerator is a European funding programme that offers support to startups and SMEs with potentially disruptive technology that are looking for substantial funds to grow their business.
Impact investors catch the bug
Proteine Resources, which is backed by deeptech investors including SMOK Ventures, Bitspiration Booster and Labena Ventures, said its protein-rich products enhance animal health because they support the digestive system of pets and boost immunity.
“They are transforming one of the biggest environmental challenges in agriculture into a scalable business with real biotech credentials,” said Borys Musielak of Smok Ventures.
As previously reported by Impact Investor, investors including the European Circular Bioeconomy Fund, BNP Paribas, the Prince Albert II Foundation, Aqua-Spark, Rabo Investments and Invest-NL have in recent years invested heavily in alternative protein producers such as Netherlands-based Protix.
Protix breeds larvae from the Black Soldier Fly, which are fed with food industry waste and used as ingredients for sustainable pet food, aquaculture, livestock feed and organic fertiliser. It landed a €37m loan from the European Investment Bank to build a new production facility in Poland in 2024, a year after it formed a joint venture with US meatpacking giant Tyson Foods to build an insect plant in the US.
Annual sales of pet food products stood at €29.2bn in 2023, with a production volume of around 9.1 million tonnes, according to a report published last month by the European Pet Food Federation (FEDIAF). Almost half of all European households own at least one pet.
