*The below list includes several investments and projects reported by IntraFish. The list is designed to provide a snapshot of developments and is not intended to be exhaustive.

Veramaris, a Netherlands-based producer of algae-based alternative feed ingredients, plans to double capacity of its US plant. The expansion should take EPA and DHA production at the plant in Blair, Nebraska, to a level comparable to the output of the entire menhaden fishery. The company expects to have access to the additional capacity in the course of 2027.

Corbion, another Netherlands-based producer of algal oils, is spending €50 million ($53 million) on the expansion of its plant in Brazil and will make a decision by 2026 on whether to build a second facility that would double capacity.

Protix, a Netherlands-based producer of insect meal, secured a loan of up to €37 million ($39 million) in January from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to support construction of a new plant in Poland, which is expected to be three to four times larger than its Dutch plant, which at the time was producing 14,000 metric tons live larvae equivalent. Protix also has a presence in the United States: Tyson Foods, one of the world's largest food companies, owns a minority stake in the company.

InnovaFeed, a French biotechnology company with backers including US agricultural giant Cargill and the Qatar Investment Authority, is set to deploy a new facility in an undisclosed third country after its successful expansion into the United States. The company currently produces around 15,000 metric tons of protein / 70,000 metric tons of insects per year. It operates two plants in northern France, one of which serves as a research and development hub, and has also partnered with US agricultural company Archer Daniels Midland at a facility in Decatur, Illinois.

Skretting, the Norwegian aquaculture feed group owned by Dutch animal nutrition group Nutreco, partnered with Finnish insect ingredient producer Volare in January 2024. As part of the deal, Skretting has secured an undisclosed portion of future production from Volare’s black soldier fly plant in Finland. The plant will have total capacity of 5,000 metric tons per year of protein meal.

BioMar, the Denmark-based global feed company, signed a long-term partnership with French biotechnology company Agronutris in May 2023. Together, the companies will develop the next generation of black soldier fly feed for the aquaculture industry. Agronutris was founded in 2011 and its head office is in Saint-Orens-de-Gameville, near Toulouse, southwest France.

Entobel, a Singapore-headquartered biotechnology company, opened what it expects to become Asia’s largest black soldier fly plant in Vung Tau, southern Vietnam, in November 2023. The 10,000-metric-ton-per-year plant this year became a supplier of feed to pangasius farmer Vinh Hoan. Entobel, which opened its first plant in 2019 in Dong Nai, southern Vietnam, has plans for further expansion in Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Bioflytech is in the process of scaling up its second plant in Palais de Rei, Galicia, northwest Spain, with the long-term aim of producing 100,000 metric tons per year of black soldier fly larvae. The company, which also operates a plant in Fuente Alamo de Murcia, central Spain, directs 5-10 percent of its production toward aquaculture feed.

Ocean Twist Biotechnology, an Italian company known until October as Ittinsect, employs advanced biotech processes to make protein concentrates from raw materials such as insects and plant-based press cakes. After starting out by targeting trout, sturgeon, bream and bass, the company will from next year commercialize its ingredients for salmon feed.

HydroNeo, backed by Thai Union, partnered with Full Circle Biotechnology, a Bangkok-based startup, in October 2023. Full Circle will provide HydroNeo with its shrimp feed additive, derived from agricultural waste, insect larvae and microbes.

FarmInsect, a German startup, raised €8 million ($8.7 million) in its latest financing round in October 2023. The Munich-based company, founded in 2020, will use the finance to scale up its breeding facilities as well as to invest in technology and research and development.

Aerbio, a British company, aims to produce an initial 200 kilograms per month of a novel single-cell protein called Proton at a pilot plant in the Netherlands. The protein is designed for use in salmon feed and is made from carbon dioxide and hydrogen gases.

MiAlgae, a Scottish biotech company that uses byproducts from the whisky industry to produce omega-3, in September secured £14 million (€17 million/$18 million) in funding to build an industrial-scale facility in Scotland. The company grows microalgae by repurposing nutrient-rich wastewater from whisky distillation.

US investment firm Eat and Beyond Global completed the acquisition of Canadian insect protein company Goldbloom in August 2023. Toronto-based Goldbloom upcycles materials to produce sustainable protein from black soldier fly larvae.

Skretting CEO: Scale is crucial to adoption of novel feed ingredients