Volare opens €15M insect protein factory, raises €7.1M to scale across Europe
What's the deal? Finnish insect protein company Volare has opened its first industrial-scale factory in Pori and raised €7.1 million in an early VC round. The raise, backed by maki.vcDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and SpringvestDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, funds the ramp-up and a planned second European plant.
What's the endgame? Volare uses black soldier flies to convert food-industry side streams into protein, oil, and fertiliser. The 10,000 m² Pori plant — a 1,000x scale-up from its demo site — targets up to 5,000 tonnes of protein and 2,000 tonnes of oil a year, and was delivered on schedule within its €15 million budget.
Why now? Much of the plant's output is already sold. Offtake agreements are in place with aquafeed giant SkrettingDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and an unnamed global chemical company, plus a preliminary deal with a large pet food maker.
The round sits near the top end for its stage, ranking in the 80th percentile by amount. It builds on Volare's earlier €26 million raise.
The product: Volare has sold protein commercially from a demo site since 2022, developing dog treats with Alvar PetDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, cat food with VAFO GroupDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and rainbow trout feed with Alltech FennoaquaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. CEO Jarna Hyvönen credits leaner engineering, including a dry process that cuts protein-meal energy use by about 30%. "The point is to make it efficient and make it work," she said.
What could go wrong? The sector is littered with casualties. France's ŸnsectDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → raised more than €600 million before judicial liquidation in 2025; Denmark's ENORM went bankrupt that October; Germany's FarmInsect entered insolvency in 2026. High factory costs and cheap competing proteins like soy and fishmeal undid their scale-up plans.
The signal: Volare's completed factory and locked-in offtake deals mark a rare step from pilot to industrial scale in a battered field. Whether that matters depends on filling capacity and competing on price — proof the sector's economics work is still pending.
Read more: Tech.eu
Image credit: Volare
