{"id":4330,"date":"2026-10-06T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pngbeyond50.atopng.com\/?p=4330"},"modified":"2026-10-06T09:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T09:00:00","slug":"from-olive-waste-to-insect-protein-spains-insectbiotech-raises-e7-2-million-for-bsf-plant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pngbeyond50.atopng.com\/?p=4330","title":{"rendered":"From olive waste to insect protein: Spain&#8217;s InsectBiotech raises \u20ac7.2 million for BSF plant"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"pb50-lead\">Spanish start-up InsectBiotech has raised \u20ac7.2 million to build a black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) plant in Andalusia that will run on a by-product the region has in huge supply: olive pomace, the pulp left over after pressing olives for oil.<\/p>\n<div class=\"pb50-keyfacts\">\n<h3>Key facts<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Funding:<\/b> \u20ac7.2 million, including Arcano Partners through the Impact Andalusia Innovation fund and international investors (announced August 2026)<\/li>\n<li><b>Capacity:<\/b> Up to 7,500 tonnes of agricultural by-products a year, with production scheduled to start in the third quarter of 2027<\/li>\n<li><b>Feedstock:<\/b> Olive pomace, bought on long-term contracts and pre-treated to improve digestibility<\/li>\n<li><b>Products:<\/b> Protein for aquaculture, poultry, pig and pet food; insect oil for biodiesel; and frass fertiliser for vineyards and berry growers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Competing on price, not just sustainability<\/h2>\n<p>InsectBiotech, led by co-founders Ignacio Gavilan and Tobias Webb, says its feedstock costs can fall to about a quarter of standard wheat-based formulations, and the site will use solar power to cut energy bills. The company reports nearly a dozen letters of intent from potential customers.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pngbeyond50.atopng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pb50-news-pomace-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Olive pits and pomace separated at an olive mill\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><figcaption>Olive pits and pomace separated at an olive mill. By-products like these are a cheap, steady feedstock for larvae. Photo: Wikicomman, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>One waste stream, three products<\/h2>\n<p>The plan illustrates a key BSF advantage: nothing is wasted. The larvae become protein and oil, and what they leave behind, frass, is sold back to farmers as fertiliser.<\/p>\n<div class=\"pb50-angle\">\n<h3>What it means for PNG<\/h3>\n<p>PNG has its own large, steady agricultural by-products, including coffee pulp, cocoa pod husks, palm oil residues and market waste. InsectBiotech&#8217;s model shows how building a BSF business around one reliable local waste stream can make the economics work.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"pb50-sources\">\n<h3>Sources<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.indexbox.io\/blog\/insectbiotech-raises-72m-for-black-soldier-fly-facility-in-andalusia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">InsectBiotech secures \u20ac7.2M to build BSFL production plant in Andalusia, IndexBox (12 August 2026)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Spanish start-up will turn up to 7,500 tonnes of olive pomace a year into larvae protein, oil and frass, a model built around one local waste stream.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4324,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[91],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-global-industry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pngbeyond50.atopng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pngbeyond50.atopng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pngbeyond50.atopng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pngbeyond50.atopng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pngbeyond50.atopng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pngbeyond50.atopng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4330\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pngbeyond50.atopng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pngbeyond50.atopng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pngbeyond50.atopng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pngbeyond50.atopng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}