Johannesburg – Maltento, a company dedicated to unlocking the functional compounds of insect-based feed solutions, has recently concluded a capital raise of $3.3 million with Sand River Venture Capital.
Maltento on Monday said it was “delighted to announce Sand River’s investment in the company, given our shared values, and Sand River’s commitment to funding innovative solutions that will aim to sustainably secure and better protect the planet’s natural resources for the future”.
Inspired by insects, Maltento creates clean, consistent, functional nutrition solutions for animal feed markets worldwide.
At present, the Maltento factory based in Epping, Cape Town, is able to ship over 15 tonnes of processed Soldier Fly larvae to the United States of America (U.S.A.) every month.
The larvae offers the U.S.A. market a high-protein addition to their chicken feed, while creating and supporting a number of jobs locally in South Africa.
The $3.3 million investment from Sand River will enable Maltento to accelerate its unique approach to insect biotechnology to further develop its first to market palatability enhancer, with the aim to gain, retain and expand its Palate+ offering into new markets, as well as those in the U.S.A. and European Union.
This endeavor will accelerate Maltento’s business globally in the long-term, further supporting its ability to create more jobs and upskill South African employees in a sector that will open opportunities for them worldwide.
“This investment and team will support our ambitions to become a global functional ingredient player, and the capital will be deployed into extending our production line and building a world-class management team,” says Dominic Malan, Commercial Director of Maltento in Cape Town.
“We will focus on optimising our pet and aquaculture digest formulations which we have successfully commercialised to the sum of 120MT in less than 12 months.”
Sand River shares in Maltento’s purpose-led business aspirations and will join Castleton Capital and Mark Bowman’s consortium to further strengthen the company’s access to strategic support and long-term capital.
“Our mission at Sand River is to provide capital and support to businesses that will regenerate the natural world and deliver strong financial returns, which together enable our collective transition to a more sustainable age,” shares Greg Robson, Partner at Sand River.
“As such, Maltento represents a wonderful opportunity for us. They are comfortably the leading company in their field; are driven by an entrepreneur we immediately believed in; and have game-changing sustainability credentials. We are excited for the journey”.
Maltento has always taken a regenerative approach in the development of all its products, with the aim to minimise its impact on scarce natural resources, while maximising the use of natural, traceable co-products from agro-processing industries to help restore the balance of processes in the natural world.
Kilogram for kilogram, insect-based protein uses 95x less natural resources than animal-based protein.
Maltento remains committed to continue developing functional compounds using insect biotechnology to create sustainable products that are able to outperform other market alternatives.
By unlocking the functional benefits of insects, Maltento can create feed solutions that are better for our animals, soil and planet.
This can be achieved with the continued development of insect-based compounds that have never been exposed to antibiotics and growth hormones, to create a product and feed supplement that is able to assist with key issues such as allergies, inflammation, and gut health.
For more information, visit https://www.maltento.com/.