Nasekomo opens AI-powered insect breeding hub to scale sustainable feed protein production

BULGARIA – Bulgarian biotechnology company Nasekomo has opened one of Europe’s first highly automated Black Soldier Fly (BSF) reproduction facilities, combining biology, robotics and artificial intelligence to scale insect protein production for the animal feed industry. 

The new Multiplication Center is expected to strengthen the commercialisation of insect-derived feed ingredients as demand grows for sustainable protein alternatives.

Developed under Project 3B (Bits, Bots and Bugs for an Insect-Mediated Circular Economy), the €3.5 million (US$4.1 million) facility integrates all major stages of insect reproduction into a single automated production system. 

The project received €2.5 million (US$2.9 million) in grant funding through Bulgaria’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan, financed by the European Union’s NextGenerationEU programme.

Designed to house tens of millions of adult Black Soldier Flies simultaneously, the facility automates more than 80% of production operations, while an AI-powered machine vision system can count and analyse up to 7,000 neonate larvae every second. 

The production platform combines pupation, adult emergence, mating, egg incubation, hatching, and Nasekomo’s proprietary Neonate Suspension Technology into a single continuous process.

According to the company, the new centre will serve as a blueprint for future expansion by supplying high-quality neonate larvae to industrial insect production facilities worldwide, rather than building fully integrated breeding operations at every site.

“Industrial insect farming cannot scale without standardised and cost-competitive reproduction,” said Marc Bolard, Co-founder and CEO of Nasekomo.

“We designed this platform so biological performance can be replicated consistently across future facilities,” added Bartosz Grodzki, Head of Multiplication at Nasekomo.

Partnerships accelerate industrial insect feed production

The launch comes as Nasekomo expands its partnerships to industrialise insect bioconversion for global food and feed markets.

Earlier this year, the company signed a strategic agreement with German engineering company REINARTZ to commercialise its Automated Insect Rearing Beds & Bots (AIR2B) platform. 

The collaboration combines Nasekomo’s expertise in automated insect production with REINARTZ’s 170 years of industrial engineering experience to accelerate the deployment of large-scale insect production facilities.

The partners said the collaboration addresses one of the industry’s biggest challenges: moving insect farming from successful pilot projects to repeatable, standardised industrial production systems capable of supplying protein meals, insect oils and organic fertilisers at a commercial scale.

Nasekomo has also entered a long-term research partnership with Phileo by Lesaffre to develop probiotic solutions specifically designed for insect farming.

The multi-year agreement initially focuses on developing insect-specific probiotics that improve nutrient conversion, production efficiency, and biological resilience. 

While probiotics are widely established in poultry, swine and aquaculture nutrition, their commercial application in insect production remains largely unexplored.

Both companies believe that combining microbial science with industrial insect breeding could improve the scalability and profitability of insect protein production while supporting the growing demand for sustainable ingredients in livestock, aquaculture, and pet food.

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