Entocycle - Turning insects into protein to ensure global food security (ft. Keiran Whitaker)

Keiran is the Founder of Entocycle, an insect-farming startup based out of London. They commercialize high-tech insect breeding modules to enable efficient and scalable insect farming.

Keiran has a TON of insights to share.

-Why insect farming is at a turning point due to Covid, the war in Ukraine, and the global protein shortage

-The magical properties of insects to turn waste into highly nutritious protein

-Why Europe has the lead globally on insect farming

-Keiran's vision of the future and why this industry might become a much bigger game changer than most people think

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ABOUT THE GUEST:

Keiran is the Founder of Entocycle, an insect-farming startup based out of London. They commercialize high-tech insect breeding modules to enable efficient and scalable insect farming.

He worked for five years as a scuba diving instructor, studied Environmental Design, and has become one of the world's top experts in Entomology. He knows everything about insects.

Entocycle attended Y Combinator's Summer 2017 batch. And has been backed since by top investors like Lowercarbon Capital, Climentum Capital, Teampact Ventures, and many others.

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SHOW NOTES:

00:09 – start

01:42 – from scuba diving to venture-backed startup founding.

03:41 – why insect farming and how does it fit into the broader context of agriculture?

05:13 – what are the magical properties of the black soldier fly?

09:03 – how long does it take a larva to turn into an insect?

11:19 - why has there been a point of inflection in the insect farming space due to covid, the war in Ukraine, and other global supply chain disruptions?

13:26 – this is particularly important in Africa. Can you explain why it is so game-changing for these territories that historically cannot rely on their own chain?

14:31 – How do you safeguard the positive impact of insect farming?

16:50 - Why does Europe seem to be doing insect farming so much better than the US or the rest of the world? What lessons might be drawn from it?

19:57 - vertically integrated production vs picks and shovels approach

23:06 – what are the regulatory and policy changes that could help support the growth and development of the insect farming industry?

25:42 – will the source of the protein not be included in the product description in the future?

26:14 – how will we deliver the enormous volumes of sources of protein?

29:07 – How is your company going to evolve in terms of new product development?

31:28 – How is the whole industry going to change, especially in the geographical sense? Where is this industry going to blossom the most?

35:32 – As a founder of the insect farming industry, what advice can you give to other entrepreneurs that are entering this type of protein creation?

39:04 – Wrap up of the episode.

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ABOUT THE HOST:

Yoann Berno https://www.linkedin.com/in/yberno/ After a career spent building and investing in top tech startups, Yoann is now a founding member and General Partner at Climentum Capital focused on investing in game-changing technological solutions to our worsening climate crisis.

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