Project description
Laying the groundwork for ready-to-use insect eggs
Don’t judge the black soldier fly by its size. It’s making huge waves in the agriculture industry. In fact, this fly could be the next farm animal. The EU-funded FreezeM project is taking insect farming to the next level. After all, insects are a promising source of sustainable, alternative protein for the animal feed industry and vital to ensuring the well-being of a growing human population. In this context, the project is creating the only viable way to generate a steady output of larvae to insect protein factories that create stocks of ready-to-use insect eggs. It is offering pre-packed neonates, ready for rearing.
Objective
"Insects are a promising source for sustainable, alternative protein for the now struggling animal feed industry, vital to ensuring the wellbeing of a growing human population. But in order to make a true impact and replace existing components in animal feed, insects have to be produced at an industrial scale, all year long, and in a stable manner.
With its proprietary revivable insect egg freezing method, FreezeM creates the only viable way to generate a steady output of larvae to insect protein factories worldwide, enabling them to create for the first-time stocks of ready-to-use insect eggs - a solution corresponding to the agriculture seed production. FreezeM aims to revolutionize the insect farming supply chain, to become the leading manufacturer of eggs to this emerging industry, and to scale the business to €27 million by 2023.
FreezeM was established in November 2017 as a spin-off from the Weizmann Institute of Science (WIS) in Israel. The three founders - all graduates of WIS - have vast experience in molecular genetics and developmental biology, especially working with fly embryos, each of them coming from an H2020 ERC funded lab. The founders participated in the first cycle of WISe - the WIS accelerator, receiving a license agreement for the technology and a seed investment from Yeda, the technology transfer arm of the WIS. The company filed a provisional patent application for its core technology. FreezeM participated in the ClimateLaunchPad competition and won 1st place in the Israel national finals, and the ""Sustainable land use"" award in the international finals. FreezeM is also taking part in the Green Pitch workshop - a green entrepreneurship workshop as part of the SwitchMed program (funded by the EU and UN). Until now, FreezeM has raised equity capital of $575K, of which $300K are secured and the rest is conditional.
This is an improved resubmission of the H2020 Ph I proposal 854424 that received EC Seal of Excellence.
"
Fields of science
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesmolecular biologymolecular genetics
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesproteins
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesdevelopmental biology
- natural sciencesbiological scienceszoologyentomology
- agricultural sciencesanimal and dairy sciencedomestic animalsanimal husbandryanimal feed
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1Coordinator
4630754 HERZELIA
Israel
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.