Enthos Circular Feed Technologies will use the funds to run a new plant that relies on insects to transform organic waste into protein and oil products for the animal and aquaculture feed industry.
Ocean 14 Capital Fund I, a private equity impact investment fund focused on the UN SDG 14 – Life Below Water – and S2G Investments, a late-stage venture and growth-stage investor, have struck a joint investment deal with Colombian startup Enthos Circular Feed Technologies.
Although no financial details were disclosed, the firms said the investment will support a new production facility in Colombia, which according to Enthos will become one of the biggest of its kind in Latin America.
The plant relies on the black soldier fly larvae, an insect that’s capable of rapidly consuming food waste. Once fully matured, the insects will be processed into animal feed ingredients that can be used to produce insect meal, oils and mineral-rich organic fertiliser, with little environmental impact.
Food loss and waste generate between 8% and 10% of annual global greenhouse gas emissions, which is five times more than the aviation sector, according to the UNFCCC, a UN unit tasked with supporting the global response to the threat of climate change.
“Turning organic waste into high-value protein and oils has the triple benefit of sustainably feeding more people, reducing ever-growing organic waste volumes, and lowering methane volumes emitted from landfills. The black soldier fly larvae are ferocious consumers of food waste and grow over 200 times in a feeding period of 15 days,” said Andreas Grimminger, CEO and co-founder at Enthos.
$4bn market
Global animal feed production currently exceeds 1 billion tonnes a year, which has led to a rise in demand for sustainable protein, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO). In recent years, insect-based feed has emerged as a key replacement for fishmeal and other high-value protein sources, which can be detrimental to the environment.
“Enthos stood out to us for its ability to turn waste into a high-value asset that fits seamlessly into global food and feed markets. With existing demand from aquaculture and livestock producers, we believe they’re demonstrating that insect protein is a commercially viable, climate-aligned solution,” said Larsen Mettler, managing director at US-based S2G, which focuses on investments in food and agriculture, oceans and energy.
Growing protein demand gap
The global insect protein market may grow as much as 16% a year between 2024 and 2032 to $4.09bn (€4.41bn) on rising demand for sustainable protein sources, according to a 2024 report by Research and Markets.
“We believe that insect meal will form a critical part of a portfolio of alternative protein sources that will meet the growing protein demand gap. We see Enthos as the lowest cost entry into this industry, based on its high capital efficiency and the unique location of its first plant,” Piers Lakin, principal at Ocean 14 Capital, told Impact Investor.
As previously reported by Impact Investor, the tide may be turning for the blue economy, which has historically been the most underfunded of all SDGs, with the number of funds dedicated to the world’s oceans jumping by 463% in the last decade, according to data collated by impact investment consultancy Phenix Capital Group in Amsterdam.
