Insect protein set to unlock the future of African agriculture with new funding from GIIG Africa

Tanzania-based agricultural technology startup, BioBuu, has announced the successful raise of US$200,000 in seed funding from the GIIG Africa Fund. The investment sets the company at a US$5-million evaluation with funds to be used to hire additional talent, expand on its product range, and increase the business’s production and export capabilities in Tanzania and Kenya.??

Founded in 2015, BioBuu is a social enterprise working to reduce food waste in Africa. In doing so, the company has developed a labor-intensive and commercially viable model that uses black soldier flies to process and recycle organic waste from restaurants and households into high protein chicken and fish feed, as well as organic compost. These products are then sold on to farmers, who can use it to improve crop yields and replace more expensive animals feeds. In this way, BioBuu actively reduces the amount of food waste that ends up in landfill, while also helping to improve the quality of agriculture in Africa.?

This latest raise of US$200,000 from GIIG Africa comes as BioBuu was named as the African winner of the AgriTech category at last year’s Global Startup Awards (GSA) Africa in Cape Town, South Africa - the largest independent startup ecosystem competition on the continent and exclusive vehicle for the GIIG Africa Fund to find, fund and scale Africa’s most innovative startups with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)-aligned solutions. BioBuu is now valued at US$5-million, following an additional investment of US$700,000 from impact investors, US$500,000 in sweat equity, and US$1.2 million secured in grant funding during the company’s research and development phase between 2015 and 2018.?