Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - PLATYPIS (Creating High Performance Insect Breeds via a Platform for Typing of Insect Strains)

Teaser

Beta Bugs makes better insects. Specifically, they are insect breeders. The company creates high performance insect genetics for the insects as protein sector using proven biotech and breeding strategies. Beta Bugs’ primary focus is on the Black Soldier Fly and its use as an...

Summary

Beta Bugs makes better insects. Specifically, they are insect breeders. The company creates high performance insect genetics for the insects as protein sector using proven biotech and breeding strategies.
Beta Bugs’ primary focus is on the Black Soldier Fly and its use as an animal feed, with a mission of doubling the fast growing industry\'s productivity and driving product quality, enabling it to compete on price point with commoditized feed ingredients. This will enable insect protein to replace more of the highly destructive soya and fish-feed, and feed the world’s growing population sustainably.

In the long-term the company will create the breeds of insects that will feed, fuel and supply the world\'s growing livestock and human population.

Beta Bugs, the insect breeding company, proposes a different and innovative solution which combines biotech trait generation methods with genomic selection and high throughput phenotyping. This enables the discovery and creation of many genetically diverse strains from which the best traits can be identified and combined to create high performance BSF breeds. By solely focussing on breeding, they create better breeds faster than BSF producers, providing them with a first mover advantage.

The company is entering the market at the right time: the “insects as feed sector” is anticipated to be valued at €800M by 2022. Over 30 European BSF producers are scaling rapidly to produce annual insect protein outputs of 1.2M tonnes by 2025. Beta Bugs’ solution will accelerate this sector, doubling yields by that time, enabling insect protein to compete on price and functionality with fishmeal and soymeal.

Following a successful application to Phase 1 of the EC Horizon 2020 SME Instrument, Beta Bug has carried out a feasibility study which assessed the technical feasibility, economic viability and financial feasibility of immediately establishing a Black Soldier Fly (BSF) breeding programme and taking it to market, in effect short-circuiting a lag in industry maturation.

Work performed

Beta Bugs have assessed technical feasibility of their core insect breeding technologies, namely the PLATYPIS (Platform for Typing Insect Strains), modular Black Soldier Fly breeding and phenotyping system. They have developed key technologies and genetic resources required for their breeding programme.

The project refined the company’s business and financial model through value chain engagement.

Final results

Beta Bugs has developed world first trait generation protocols for the black soldier fly and bespoke high-throughput phenotyping technologies for the insect.

The company’s mission is to create optimised black soldier fly strains which will double the fast growing industry\'s productivity and drive product quality, enabling it to compete on price point with commoditized feed ingredients. This will enable insect protein to replace more of the highly destructive soya and fish-feed, and feed the world’s growing population sustainably.

Website & more info

More info: https://betabugs.uk.