Mekong invests $25m in Vietnam insect feed company

Mekong is investing via its fourth flagship fund, which closed last year at USD 246m, with a view to taking primarily minority stakes of 40-45%. The investment is part of a USD 30m round featuring Dragon Capital.

Entobel was established in 2013 by two Belgian entrepreneurs who identified Vietnam as a key market for animal feed based on insect protein. In 2019, the company constructed what it calls one of the largest production sites of its kind in the world with a capacity of 1,000 tons of insect meal. A second plant is expected to be operational next year.

“Entobel’s team is solving one of the big problems in the world by using insects to create a sustainable protein, which will reduce the environmental footprint of our global food chain, while making the food value chain safer and more sustainable,” Sjoerd Zwinkels, an investment director at Mekong, said in a statement.

“This is a true circular economy as they take by-products, and convert them to protein, oil, and organic fertilizer. There is virtually no waste."

Founded in 2001, Mekong claims to have the most extensive private equity track record in Vietnam, with 42 investments and 27 full exits.

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Industrials
• Expansion
• Vietnam
• Mekong Capital
• Dragon Capital Group
• Agriculture