Late-stage venture company S2G Investments, which funds food & agriculture, oceans and energy, has teamed up with private equity impact fund Ocean 14 Capital which is focused on United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG 14): Life Below Water, on a joint investment agreement with Enthos Circular Feed Technologies.
Enthos is pioneering the upcycling of organic waste into high-quality insect-based protein and oils for various uses including as feed for aquaculture farms. The company said the conversion process relies on Black Soldier Fly larvae, which rapidly consume food waste and transform it into protein-rich insect meal, oils, and mineral-rich organic fertilizer with minimal environmental impact. Ethnos will use the investment to support Enthos 1, a flagship facility in Colombia.
Rougly 70% of fishmeal and 73% of fish oil is used in aquaculture to feed farmed fish. Much of the fish for these products comes from pelagic species that are overfished.
“From our point of view, insect meal produced by Enthos is a key alternative to the fishmeal used in aquaculture, with aquafeed remaining one of the largest applications of fishmeal globally,” says Piers Lakin, Principal at Ocean 14 Capital. “As fishmeal is a limited resource with production volumes subject to environmental fluctuations its use as the sole protein source for fish production is not a sustainable option either economically or environmentally, so we see insect protein as an integral part of a portfolio of alternative proteins that we see reducing the reliance on fishmeal and fish oil.”
Ethnos said diverting 1% of global food waste to Black Soldier Fly production could yield an estimated 332,000 metric tons of protein annually and one million metric tons of organic fertilizer. It would require minimal resources compared to traditional livestock and generate significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions. By converting waste back into food, Enthos contributes to establishing a circular food economy and more sustainable food production.
“Turning organic waste into high value protein and oils has the triple benefit of sustainably feeding more people, reducing ever-growing organic waste volumes and lowering methane volumes emitted from landfills,” says Andreas Grimminger, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder at Enthos, adding, “The Black Soldier Fly larvae are ferocious consumers of food waste and grow over 200 times in a feeding period of 15 days.”
“Enthos stood out to us for its ability to turn waste into a high-value asset that fits seamlessly into global food and feed markets,” said Larsen Mettler, Managing Director at S2G. “With existing demand from aquaculture and livestock producers, we believe they’re demonstrating that insect protein is a commercially viable, climate-aligned solution.”
