Enorm Biofactory to build largest insect factory in Scandinavia

Danish insect producer Enorm Biofactory announced that it closed its funding round and ready to build the largest insect factory in Scandinavia.

Enorm Biofactory builds the largest insect factory in ScandinaviaThe insect start-up Enorm Biofactory has closed a funding round of 50 million Euros. With new partners, a strong team, and permits in place, Enorm Biofactory will shortly scale up the insect factory in the middle of Jutland from pilot plant to a yearly production of application 11,000 tons of insect meal.

As soon as February, Enorm Biofactory will start building the first new square meters for the future factory in Hedensted Municipality, Denmark. When the new site is in full production in the second half of 2023, 100 tons of larval biomass per day will be produced, equivalent to application 11,000 tons of insect protein meal per year.

DLG AMONG SHAREHOLDERS IN ENORM BIOFACTORY
Closing the funding round is a major milestone for the company to be able to realize the project. Among new shareholders is, one of Europe’s largest agribusiness companies, DLG. The financing round also includes loans from The Danish Green Investment Fund and Nykredit Bank. “With our current suppliers and cooperation partners, and DLG as a shareholder, we have a strong foundation to develop Enorm to commercial scale” says Carsten Lind Pedersen, CEO at Enorm Biofactory.

70X SCALE UP FROM CURRENT PRODUCTION
Enorm Biofactory was established in 2017 and is run by Carsten L. Pedersen (CEO, 59), his daughter, Jane L. Sam (COO, 33), Arne Blok Lauridsen (CTO, 32) and additional 13 employees. For the last 3 years, Enorm Biofactory has established a pilot plant and is today producing 3 tons of insect meal per week. The planned scale up is therefore app. 70 times the current production.

Carsten Lind Pedersen is looking forward to scale up the business: “The knowledge that we have built up establishing and running the pilot plant, gives us the confidence to scale up the plant to commercial scale. We have developed the project in close cooperation with experienced technology suppliers such as the Danish producer of ventilation systems SKOV A/S and producer of logistic systems, Sealing System A/S”.

PROMISING RESULTS AS SUSTAINABLE INGREDIENT
Enorm Biofactory produces the insect species Black Soldier Fly larvae. The larvae feed on residual biomass from the food industry, efficiently concentrate nutrients and can be processed into ingredients rich in protein and fat, as a sustainable alternative to traditional sources of feedstuff. The ingredients can be used as feed for pigs, poultry, fish, and pets, and potentially even for food. Feeding trials, with Enorm insect meal, at the National Institute of Aquatic Resources at Technical University of Denmark (DTU) shows promising protein digestibility for trout and tilapia. Enorm Biofactory is planning to use the products from the pilot plant to explore and validate the potential for further different applications for feed and food, to develop and mature the market for insect-derived ingredients.