Innovafeed Lands $53M to Scale Insect-Based Animal Feed

Jan de Vries · 2026-06-05

Innovafeed, a Paris-based biotech company, just secured about $53 million (€51 million) to scale up its sustainable insect-based ingredients for animal nutrition, pet food, and agriculture. Most of this funding came from its existing financial partners, signaling strong confidence in the company's direction. ### Who's Backing Innovafeed? The round was supported by historical shareholders like Creadev, QIA, Temasek, FFC, ABC Impact, and ADM, along with its banking partners. This isn't just a cash injection—it marks the end of Innovafeed's industrialization phase and a strategic shift toward commercial growth, centered around its Nesle production site.  ### What the CEO Says "Since day one, we've had two goals: prove we can make high-performing, competitive, sustainable ingredients without overusing marine resources, and build an innovative industrial project in France," said Clément Ray, CEO and co-founder. "Scaling our industrial model is a huge milestone. Now we're focused on commercial deployment, capturing the full value of our ingredients' functional properties that improve animal health and growth—validated over ten years."  ### How Innovafeed Works Founded in 2016 by Aude Guo, Bastien Oggeri, and Clément Ray, Innovafeed raises and processes Black soldier fly larvae for animal and plant nutrition. This offers an alternative to fishmeal and vegetable oils in fish and animal feed. The company's tech mimics the insect's natural cycle on a massive scale, using 3,000 sensors to optimize breeding conditions and AI to cut human intervention. Robots collect and count 20,000 eggs laid every second, putting insects back at the heart of the food chain. ### Key Milestones Since 2022 Innovafeed's last big round was in 2022, when it raised $265 million (€250 million) in Series D funding led by QIA. Since then, it's hit three major milestones: - **Nesle production unit is fully operational.** In three years, it's produced over 33 million pounds (15,000 tons) of protein and oil. - **Production volumes jumped tenfold**, while costs dropped by seven times. - **Revenues doubled each year**, driven by strong client partnerships. - **Environmental impact**: Its products cut carbon emissions by 70–90% compared to conventional options, thanks to a circular industrial symbiosis model. ### The Tech Behind the Insects Innovafeed uses a proprietary wet process to transform larvae, ensuring high digestibility and quality. This approach, combined with AI and robotics, makes large-scale insect farming efficient and cost-effective. "Over the past five years, Innovafeed has won its industrial bet and built a world-unique asset: a fully operational, large-scale production facility that optimizes ingredient production for pet food and aquaculture," said Bénédicte Monpert, Food Managing Director at Creadev. ### What's Next: Growth and Restructuring The company is now entering a new growth phase, but it comes with changes. It's reorganizing activities, cutting 60 positions—mostly at its Gouzeaucourt site—and moving zootechnical R&D to Nesle. This shift aims to streamline operations and focus on commercial deployment. ### Bottom Line Innovafeed's journey from a startup to a commercial player shows how insect-based ingredients can disrupt traditional feed markets. With strong backing, proven tech, and growing revenues, it's poised to scale further—even as it navigates restructuring. For pet food and aquaculture industries looking for sustainable alternatives, this is a company to watch.