Chilean startup F4F picks up $4.5m

Food for the Future, a Chilean protein meal startup, has secured $4.5 million in funding. Kayyak Ventures led the round.

PRESS RELEASE

Food For the Future (F4F), a chilean startup founded in 2015 dedicated to transform organic waste and produce high quality insect-based animal feed, closed a US$4.5 million financing round led by Kayyak Ventures, a chilean venture capital and impact investment company.

This company transforms Black Soldier fly into protein meal for animal nutrition with applications in the salmon, poultry, swine and pet industries, among others. It has developed an insect farming technology capable of transforming large amounts of waste into products of high nutritional and functional value, with promising uses in animal and human food as well as dermo-cosmetics. It also produces a high-quality organic fertilizer, closing the loop in the nutrient circular economy.

F4F has several business lines, such as Animal Nutrition, Functional Ingredients, Fertilizers and Waste Treatment and others, this investment allows it to scale and consolidate their leadership in the production of sustainable proteins from insects with huge environmental benefits. The Black Soldier fly as an alternative to traditional proteins, significantly reduces water use, greenhouse gas emissions, biomass depredation and deforestation.

“Increasing demand, high costs and prices, limited current production capacity and legislation are the main factors limiting the growth of insect proteins. This funding will allow us to grow on a larger scale and be able to approach different industries that dare to incorporate insect protein,” mentions Cristián Emhart, CEO of Food For The Future (F4F).
F4F was created to find new ways to produce protein from insects to feed the world’s growing demand for protein in a sustainable way. The global trend in insect farming is mainly due to the power of recycling nutrients from organic waste, thus responding to the growing challenge of waste disposal and treatment. However, this is not the only reason. Numerous studies have demonstrated the quality of the products that can be produced from insects, opening a range of possibilities in the food and other industries.

According to its founder, this could reach half a million metric tons by 2030, compared to the current market of approximately 10,000 metric tons.

“Using insect meal can alleviate dependence on marine and terrestrial resources by using only organic waste as raw material. A diet that incorporates insect meal will reduce its carbon footprint by 25 tons of CO2 equivalent per ton of insect meal,” the startup’s CEO explains.

At the industrial plant located near Talca in the Maule region, with 1 kg of black soldier fly eggs produced, 20 tons of organic waste can be treated in just 10 days, which are transformed into 3 tons of live black soldier fly larvae and 6 tons of organic fertilizer as a by-product of the crop. “In fact, this amount is the same tons of waste generated in a week by 400 families,” adds Emhart.

About Kayyak Ventures
Kayyak Ventures is a venture capital and impact investment company based in Chile. Its purpose is to promote innovation and entrepreneurship as engines for sustainable development for Latin America. It invests in exceptional companies and entrepreneurs who aim to solve major social and environmental challenges. For further information visit www.kayyakventures.com