Better Origin secures government funding to scale up insect farming

A £10 million funding package from the UK Government’s Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF) will help to scale the insect farming sector, accelerating the transition to sustainable agriculture.

As part of the project consortium, Better Origin will use the funding to focus on scaling their insect processing and value extraction technology. Their new facility will convert insects into animal feed, human food, and more.

A result of years of research and development, the Metamorphosis technology represents the most cost-effective insect processing line developed to date.

Driving the insect industry forward

Fotis Fotiadis, founder and CEO of Better Origin, says: “Farming the insect is proven to be pretty straightforward. However, the real value comes from converting the farmed insect into products.”

“Over the last three years, we have developed a solution, which can convert the full-grown insect into ingredients for salmon feed, pet feed, and human food in a sustainable and scalable way.”

“This funding represents the single largest investment by the UK into the insect protein space and we are delighted to be a recipient. It will enable us to accelerate our product development, deploy the first dedicated insect processing facility in the UK, and expand rapidly to the rest of the world.”

The funding plays perfectly to Better Origin’s strengths. Focusing primarily on black soldier fly processing, the technology has already been successfully tested with all other major farmed insect species.

Simon MacKenzie, Deputy Head at the Institute of Aquaculture at the University of Stirling, says: “We’ve been working with Better Origin since 2018, successfully testing their Metamorphosis insect processing technology to highlight the potential for insects in salmon aquaculture. This opportunity allows us to bring this state-of-the-art technology to the market.”

The Better Origin story

Launched in 2018 by Cambridge University graduates, Fotis Fotiadis and Miha Pipan, Better Origin focuses on promoting a decentralised, local insect farming model.

We launched the Better Origin X1 – the world’s first AI-powered insect farm – earlier this year. This solution removes the significant capital requirement and knowledge entry barrier that has prevented farmers and food producers from exploring insects as an option.

Better Origin’s vision is to democratise insect farming. We develop tools that will allow any farmer in the world to grow insects in a cost-effective and resilient way.

Learn more about our solution.