Indian insect player GreenGrahi secures nearly $4 million

GreenGrahi recently raised ₹23 crore ($3.8M/€3.3M) in seed funding to support its insect farming efforts, led by climate-focused investors in India.

The company focuses on a broad range of sustainable agricultural solutions and pet nutrition and expects to accelerate its growth in these segments.

“We’ve co-developed innovative pet food products with several leading pet food brands, enabling them to diversify their offerings and improve customer satisfaction with clean-label, performance-oriented formulas,” Co-Founder and CEO Siddharth Sharma tells GlobalPETS.

In addition to expanding production and research and development (R&D) capacity, GreenGrahi is also investing in sales and marketing infrastructure across the US, the UK and the EU to meet “rising global demand for sustainable and functional pet nutrition.”

GreenGrahi was founded in 2021 and has secured grants from various sources to develop its technology. Earlier this year, Forbes India recognized the company as one of the nation’s top 100 most promising startups.

Booming insect market

Companies around the world have been racing to scale up insect protein production, which is billed as an eco-friendly protein source for pet food.

Earlier in the year, Indian insect startup Loopworm secured a certification to export its silkworm pupae-derived products to Europe. This development follows the accreditation of another Indian insect producer, Arthro Biotech, in October 2024 and Veolia, a Malaysian player, in late 2023.

In Canada, Oberland Agriscience recently opened a black soldier fly (BSF) facility and began seeking partnerships in the pet food industry. Bulgarian firm Nasekomo claims it has reached new benchmarks in the industry.

With production on the rise, the European Commission has officially recognized the IPIFF Good Hygiene Practices for European Union Producers of Insects as Food and Feed guidance document to support businesses in maintaining high hygiene standards in insect farming.