The company recently partnered with supermarket chain Morrisons to provide chicken feed.
(Picture: Better Origin)Need all food waste go to waste? Can something more useful be done with it?
The founders of Better Origin think so. They’ve developed what they call an “AI-powered insect mini-farm”, which converts local supermarket food waste into animal feed.
The Cambridge-based company has raised $16 million (£12 million) in funding to help grow the team, refine its product and expand operations. The funding round was led by London venture capital firm Balderton Capital.
The mini-farms, which are built inside shipping containers, automate the process of animal feed production by using larvae, which consume food waste and are then served directly to animals.
The technology is designed to be installed on any farm in the world, and is built with cameras and sensors designed to optimise the production process.
Better Origin has already installed farms as part of a partnership with British supermarket chain Morrisons, supplying its ‘X1’ containers to free-range egg farms.
Each container is capable of feeding 32,000 hens, converting 150 tonnes of food waste in the process. The company says its Morrisons partnership alone will reduce emissions by the same amount as taking 1,240 cars off the road.
The business was set up by two Cambridge graduates, engineering grad Fotis Fotiadis and biological sciences grad Miha Pipan.
Co-founder Miha Pipan said: “The food chain is fundamentally broken and it’s putting the future of our food security at risk.
“We believe our solution is the future of food production and the latest round of funding takes us a step closer to this future.”
The pair hope that the technology will significantly reduce the UK’s levels of food waste -- which currently stands at 4.5 million tonnes a year -- with the potential improve food security and sustainability in other parts of the world.
