The start-up Innovafeed, created on April 15, 2016, has been supported since 2016 by the state, particularly by the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Solidarity as part of the GreenTech initiative.
It inaugurated its second factory in Nesle, 45 km from Amiens and 100 km from Paris, on April 28, 2020. This new factory will create 100 new direct jobs in the circular economy.
Several other factories of at least the same size are also in the works, with the potential to create several thousand jobs in Europe.
Innovafeed moved its head office to Nesle in the Hauts-de-France region to benefit from the advantages of the North-East part of the French territory, which has the largest agro-industrial fabric and consequently, the largest source of co-products necessary for insect farming.
With this leading company in insect-based protein production, France thus becomes a global leader in “novel food” and in protein production through the “insect sector”. It also opens up new outlets for local agricultural and industrial sectors (notably sugarrefineries).
The development of this new insect farming sector is not a passing trend, but a deeper evolution towards the use of agricultural co-products for protein production.
Innovafeed aims for new fundraising rounds (target of 100-150 million euros) to continue its development in France and Europe.