UltraNutri uses agricultural waste and converts it into a product that is digestible by black soldier fly larvae designed to express specific proteins, opening up new avenues for the production of low-cost veterinary antimicrobial properties.
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In a post on its LinkedIn page, Indian private equity firm Menterra Ventures announced that it has added Indian insect farming startup UltraNutri to its portfolio. The funding will accelerate the company's building, whose main objectives include developing a black soldier fly (BSF) derived shrimp feed with antimicrobial properties.
In its statement, Menterra highlighted that UltraNutri is a company created by world-class scientists and backed by prominent biotechnology entrepreneurs to reinvent how insects can transform agriculture and animal health.
"At Menterra Ventures, we back founders who combine scientific expertise with disciplined execution to deliver lasting impact. UltraNutri exemplifies this mission," the private equity firm wrote in its statement.
The feed company, for its part, states that its mission is to develop sustainable insect proteins that promote growth and have antimicrobial properties, helping to combat antimicrobial resistance and reduce the need for antibiotics in aquaculture and animal husbandry.
According to Menterra's statement, UltraNutri is currently addressing three urgent challenges. First, converting agricultural waste into high-quality protein; second, replacing expensive fishmeal with functional feeds that offer disease resistance; and third, curbing the excessive use of antibiotics in livestock farming by improving animal health naturally.
Regarding the first of these objectives, UltraNutri itself highlights on its website that, in India alone, 350 million tons of agricultural waste are burned or deposited in landfills each year, raising significant environmental concerns, as this waste contributes to the release of carbon and methane.
Through its process, UltraNutri uses indigestible agricultural waste that cannot be consumed by any animal due to its complex cellular structure and converts it into a product that is digestible by BSF larvae, designed to express specific proteins, opening up new avenues for the production of low-cost veterinary biopharmaceuticals. The insect farming company claims that its innovative discovery has the potential to revolutionize shrimp farming in India.
"With shrimp losses due to infectious diseases estimated to exceed $1 billion, our cutting-edge technology offers a solution to significantly reduce losses and improve overall shrimp production. By providing disease control and growth properties through our BSF-derived shrimp feed, we aim to enhance the profitability and sustainability of the aquaculture industry," UltraNutri claims on its website.
It is precisely these proprietary feedstock processes, deep knowledge of insect biology, and genome-level expertise that Menterra has highlighted in explaining its investment in UltraNutri, which it says "is steadily translating deep science into scalable solutions."
Based in Bangalore, the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka, home to some of India's most prestigious schools and research centers, UltraNutri was founded by Robert Deschenes, Matheen Sait, Nitish Sathyanarayanan, and Ramaswamy Subramanian. The latter two have also commented on LinkedIn about the inclusion of the insect-based feed company in Menterra's portfolio.
"This partnership will further accelerate our mission of building a deep-science insect biotechnology company — from sustainable feed to pioneering biopharma applications, scaling impact from India to the world," said Nitish Sathyanarayanan, UltraNutri's co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer.
"Menterra has been a great partner. We look forward to continuing to grow as a company with Menterra. Great opportunity to revolutionize the world with insects - sustainable, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly," added Ramaswamy Subramanian, UltraNutri's co-founder and Scientific Advisor.