Nasekomo: pioneering the next-generation model of insect-protein industrialisation

Xavier Marcenac is the Co-Founder at Nasekomo, an EIT Food RisingFoodStar based in Bulgaria. Nasekomo rear Black Soldier Fly to produce protein, oil and fertiliser for the feed and agriculture industries.

Nasekomo believe insects are an efficient way to solve the world’s protein dependency because insect-based protein meals are scientifically-proven substitutes for existing feed ingredients.

The Black Solder Fly feeds only in its larval form, which means adults are not potential disease carriers and require no particular care. Adult females can lay up to 1,000 eggs and, once hatched, larvae feed voraciously and can convert 60% of organic waste into protein, lipid-rich body mass and other useful substances before reaching maturity in only 12 days — having increased their weight 9,000 times.

Insects provide high-quality protein, and they have always been a part of human diets. Today, insects supplement the diets of approximately 2 billion people mainly in parts of Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Thanks to their high feed conversion efficiency, producing and consuming insects as food is considered extremely efficient. On average, insects can convert 2kg of feed into 1kg of insect mass, whereas cattle require approximately 8kg of feed to produce 1kg of body weight gain. Combined with factors such as required resources for farming and production arrangements, this means that greenhouse gas emissions by most insects is significantly lower than conventional livestock.

Nasekomo joined the EIT Food RisingFoodStars network in 2021, which has brought opportunities to network with large agrifood companies, educational and research organisations within EIT Food.

In 2023 Nasekomo began operations at its Insect Center of Excellence (NICE) in Bulgaria. Designed on the principles of vertical farms, this data-driven and automated platform seeks to scale the production of insect protein as a key protein alternative for petfood, animal feed and soil fertilisers.

Nasekomo has stated it hopes to introduce a “a new era in the bioconversion industry” and has opened the facility as a demonstration base for entrepreneurs, potential investors and partners to discover ways to collaborate on advancing the circular food economy together.

In 2024, the company secured €8 million in a Series A financing round to invest in developing robotised, AI-assisted technologies to produce sustainable protein feed.