VC firms back €110m series-C for Ynsect

Astanor Ventures led the round with additional contributions from BPI France, Talis Capital, Idinvest Partners Finasuce and Compagnie du Bois Sauvage.

The fresh capital will be used to scale up production by building the world's biggest insect farm in Amiens, and develop the company internationally, particularly in the North American market.

Previous funding
The series-A, which amounted to €1.8m, was co-provided by Demeter and Emertec in 2014, whose contribution was complemented by private investors. Emertec contributed half of the capital, investing via the €47.5m Emertec 5 fund, while Demeter drew capital from the Demeter 3 Amorçage vehicle, which had held a €43m first close in late 2012.

The €5.5m series-B closed in 2016 and included Demeter, Emertec and New Protein. It was then extended to €19.2m with additional contributions from BPI France and Demeter.

Company
Ynsect was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Evry, France. It operates large-scale insect farms, with a view to develop new ingredients for several markets. At capacity, Ynsect's largest farm to date will produce around 20,000 tons of protein annually.

The products include animal food, cosmetics and organic fertilizers. The firm is aiming to enhance the quality of animal nutrition by developing insect-protein-based food.

People
Astanor Ventures – Erich Archambeau (co-founder).
Talis Capital – Matus Maar (managing partner).
Ÿnsect – Antoine Hubert, Jean-Gabriel Levon, Alexis Agnot, Fabrice Berro (co-founders).

Advisers
Company – Baker & McKenzie (legal); Jefferies (corporate finance).

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• Topics
• Expansion
• France
• Consumer
• France
• BPI France
• Venture
• Talis Capital