Edinburgh's The Insect Café raises £160,000 to launch cricket protein powder
What's the deal? Edinburgh foodtech startup The Insect Café has secured £160,000 in debt financing from the Catalyst FundDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → to move cricket-protein production in-house and launch its consumer product, Nahla's Insect Nutrition, in early 2027. The Catalyst Fund is managed by social investor FirstportDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
What's the endgame? The company wants to grow, harvest, and process crickets in Scotland, building local protein production capacity and cutting reliance on imported ingredients. Its product is a single-ingredient cricket protein powder aimed at everyday nutrition, not just sports.
Founder Nahla Mahmoud, an ecologist with more than a decade in zoology and insect husbandry, launched the business in 2023, selling cricket-flour baked goods at Edinburgh markets to test appetite. "This investment allows us to bring production in-house, build local protein production capacity in Scotland and make insect protein accessible to a much wider audience," she said.
Why debt? The Catalyst Fund uses a revenue-based finance model, linking repayments to business performance rather than fixed monthly payments. That flexibility suits an early-stage venture still proving demand.
The money trail: The round follows support from The Ventures Lab, a venture growth programme that helped the company build its business plan and investment proposition. Firstport's Emily Macdonald called the product one that "combines strong commercial potential with a clear environmental mission."
What could go wrong? This is a modest, product-launch step, not industrial scale. The venture is testing a consumer-facing nutrition product, a tougher sell than the feed and pet food segments where insect protein has gained the most traction. Its success hinges on whether it can establish both demand and production economics.
The signal: Insect protein is drawing investor interest, but the gap between ambition and scale is stark. In October, Finnish firm Volare raised €7.1 million to open a factory capable of producing up to 5,000 tonnes a year. The Insect Café's £160,000 is a smaller, more consumer-focused bet — a test of whether insect protein can win over everyday shoppers, not just farmers.
Read more: edinburghchamber.co.uk
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
