Entocycle builds hardware modules and software to monitor and collect data on black soldier fly health and productivity. Its flagship product, the Entocycle Neo, uses optical sensors and image‑analysis software to accurately measure production in insect farms. The company also offers a fly cage with built‑in climate control to support breeding and scale‑up. By automating monitoring and data collection, Entocycle aims to increase feed conversion rates and lower mortality, helping insect farms produce low‑carbon protein and integrate with waste management. Founded in 2016 with a 21‑person team, the company is now moving to commercialize its products and iterate on the Neo. It recently raised $5 million in a Series A to support those commercialization efforts. Entocycle is a London-based startup leading a project to build the UK’s first large-scale industrial insect farm that will rear insects by the million. The planned facility will farm black soldier fly at scale, using the insects to consume and break down food waste and to produce animal feed for aquaculture and pet-food industries. The UK government’s Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF) has earmarked £10 million ($12.9m) to support the build. Entocycle is working with partners including Better Origin, Beta Bugs, Tesco, AB Agri, Insect Technology Group, Zero Waste Scotland and the universities of Durham, Stirling and Warwick. The initiative aims to make the UK a global hub for black soldier fly farming, reduce CO2 and other environmental impacts from traditional protein feeds, and improve localized feed supply-chain resilience. Critics note the public allocation is modest compared with large private rounds such as Ÿnsect’s $372m Series C, and some wheat farmers have questioned the government's focus on insect projects amid a poor grain harvest. Entocycle builds automated systems that rear black soldier fly larvae into protein feed and fertilizer, using visual-recognition and machine-learning technology to monitor larvae and collect analytics. Its pods take food waste and baby larvae and, after about one week, produce larvae ready for animal feed while also generating fertilizer. The company says its approach addresses the $150 billion animal protein feed market by turning organic waste from sources like breweries and commercial kitchens into scalable feedstock. Entocycle was launched in 2014 by Keiran Whitaker and already operates a facility in London; it is also participating in Y Combinator. So far it has raised just under $1 million in grant funding from the U.K. government, the European government and the European Space Agency, which has an interest in insect protein for long-term missions. The startup plans to grow by selling its systems up the supply chain directly to supermarkets via their feed suppliers and is in discussions with several major retailers; recent European regulatory approval for insect protein in farmed fish could accelerate adoption.

Total raised

$18M

Funding rounds

3

Latest round

Series A

Latest activity

Jan 2023