NAHSHONIM, ISRAEL — FreezeM, a Breeding-as-a-Service (BaaS) biotechnology company for black soldier fly (BSF) protein rearing solutions, announced on Feb. 15 that it closed its series A funding round with $14.2 million. The investments were led by the European Innovation Council Fund (EIC Fund), as well as by new and existing investors.
According to FreezeM, the company will use this funding to accelerate commercialization and scale its network of breeding hubs to meet what it describes as “rapidly increasing market demand” for insect-based proteins.
“The current funding round will enable FreezeM to embed our technology globally at scale and accelerate the growth of our breeding hubs in Europe and Israel, thereby driving successful commercial expansion,” said Yuval Gilad, Ph.D., co-founder and chief executive officer at FreezeM. “Our technology is releasing the insect market from its shackles and will drive the insect protein market to fulfill its true potential.”
According to a Meticulous Research report cited by FreezeM, the global market for BSF protein could reach $3.96 billion by 2033. This includes applications in the animal feed and pet food markets, as the Insect-based proteins are seen as sustainable alternatives to traditional proteins due to their circularity and reduced environmental impact. FreezeM aims to stimulate growth in this sector by using biotechnology to streamline the breeding process.
The company offers PauseM®, a proprietary solution consisting of “paused” life-cycle BSF neonates with a 14-day shelf life and a survival rate of more than 90% on average. This solution allows processors to receive “paused” newborns and store them depending on their production needs, and creates a decoupled production model between breeding, growing and processing that allow producers to improve efficiency and scalability of production, according to FreezeM.
Breeding is a common bottleneck for industrial production of BSF protein, according to FreezeM, involving technology gaps and instability in insect colonies. PauseM offers a way to control the supply chain for the breeding phase and ultimately aims to support the growth and scalability of the global insect protein sector.
FreezeM offers its PauseM solution to small and large-scale BSF protein facilities worldwide. The company was founded in 2018 by three graduates of the Weizmann Institute of Science, a leading scientific research university in Rehovot, Israel.
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