Fera Science Ltd is to lead a research project for the UK’s Food Standards Agency (FSA) that will investigate what the risks are from using novel, currently non-approved waste substrates to rear insects such as the Black soldier fly (BSF) and yellow mealworm.
Funding boost for company that uses food waste to produce black larvae, which is then turned into a sustainable animal feed alternative for cattle and chickens
Millions of black soldier fly larvae, bred in a converted shipping container, are helping to boost the protein content of feed at a laying unit in Powys.
Better Origin, which turns flies into food for chickens, raises $3M from… Fly Ventures
It turns out, where there are flies, there’s brass. Better Origin is a startup that converts waste food into essential nutrients using insects fed to chickens inside a standard shipping container. It’s now raised a $3 million seed round led by Fly Ventures and solar entrepreneur Nick Boyle, while previous investor Metavallon VC is also participating. Its competitors include Protix, Agriprotein, InnovaFeed, Enterra and Entocycle.
Better Origin’s product is an “autonomous insect mini-farm.” Its X1 insect mini-farm is dropped on site. A farmer adds food waste gathered from nearby factories or from the farm into a hopper to feed the larvae of black soldier flies.