The world’s most expensive beetle farm just crashed after burning $625 million
The "Tesla of Agriculture" has collapsed. Ÿnsect, the $600M insect protein startup, has entered liquidation. Here is why the "Mega-Factory" model failed and what it means for the future of food tech.
Ÿnsect founder
The "unicorn" dream is officially compost. Last week, Ÿnsect, the French startup that promised to revolutionize the global food chain, entered judicial liquidation, marking the spectacular collapse of a $625 million bet.
This isn't just a bankruptcy; it is a reality check for the entire "deep tech" ecosystem. Despite raising over half a billion dollars from investors like Robert Downey Jr. and Bpifrance, the company generated just €5.8 million in revenue against €104 million in liabilities in 2023. The math was always brutal: Ÿnsect was trying to build a hardware-heavy, capital-intensive farming business while valuations were priced like a software company. Now, the cash is gone, and the doors are closing.
The Cash Inferno
The company’s downfall stems from its massive vertical farm in Amiens, France. Originally pitched as the world's largest insect farm, the project became a money pit. Construction delays and soaring energy costs meant the facility never reached the scale needed to lower unit economics.
Founder Antoine Hubert described the desperate search for capital in a stark interview with Libération, offering a rare glimpse into the founder's psyche during a collapse:
"It's like running down a corridor with thousands of doors, and the more you run, the more the doors close."
While the company secured a safeguard procedure in September 2024 to freeze debts and attempt a pivot to high-margin pet food, the clock ran out. The company needed an estimated €130 million to finish the Amiens plant but found no takers in a market that has turned hostile to unproven, capital-heavy hardware projects.
Ÿnsect’s failure forces a harsh reassessment of the alternative protein sector. We expect the next six months to be a "survival of the fittest" phase where competitors like Innovafeed, who have favored a less capital-intensive partnership model, will likely scoop up Ÿnsect’s IP for pennies on the dollar. The bug revolution isn't dead, but the era of the "hardware unicorn" is extinct.
