Dutch insect farm Protix has attracted new capital of €50m and is now looking at a new investment round and a possible stock exchange listing, the Financieele Dagblad reported on Tuesday, quoting company sources.

Protix is not commenting on the size of the stake taken by the new investors, BNP Paribas, Monaco Asset Management and Luxemburg-based European Circular Bioeconomy Fund because this would give the company a value, director Kees Aarts told the paper.

Existing investors have also put more money into the company, taking the total investment to ‘just over €120m,’ Aarts said.

Protix products are based on the black soldier fly larvae, which it farms and processes into protein for animal feed and fertilizer.

The money will go on building production locations in the US, Canada, UK and central and eastern Europe, the FD said.

Protix currently has a 15,000 square metre production site in Bergen op Zoom, and according to its most recent annual report, generated a loss of €13.5m on sales of €5.7m in 2020.

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‘Our investors are in it for the long term,’ Aarts told the paper. ‘We want to supply an alternative for fish meal, soy and palm oil. We make sustainable protein from food waste… and are providing a solution for over-fishing and deforestation.’

Last September, the EU scrapped a ban on the use of animal protein in pig and poultry feed, clearing the way for the wider use of Protix products.