26 INSECT PROTEINS
Finnish startup Volare raises EUR 0.7 million from Maki.VC to radically reduce environmental burden of food chain with high-quality insect proteins
I
nsect proteins can significantly reduce the environmental load of animal feed, pet food and cosmetics industries. A new spinoff startup from VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Volare, aims to do just this. Volare uses food production side streams, such as non-edible parts of grains, to produce high-quality proteins and oils in order to replace other animal proteins, soy and palm oil. To start off, the company received EUR 0.7 million in funding from Maki.vc. It is the largest investment to a company in the insect sector in Finland. VTT invests technology into the company. “Our goal is to radically reduce the environmental load of the food chain. A positive impact
LIVESTOCK & POULTRY ME
can be achieved on an industrial scale. Our production makes use of upcycling, which is circular economy at its purest. The value of the upcycled material grows without any waste,” says Volare co-founder, CTO Matti Tähtinen. Resource scarcity is challenging
companies to find new alternatives in food production, and insect proteins are one solution. It has been reported that the global insect market is growing by about 27% annually, and its total value is estimated to be EUR 6 billion a year by 2027. Farming insects has
JULY-SEPTEMBER 2021
