Aspire Food Group

Aspire Food Group is a trailblazer in the insect agriculture industry, integrating a wide range of cutting-edge technologies to operate the most environmentally responsible protein production system on the planet. Their production system is designed for rapid scalability and leverages robotics, ASRS technology, and automation to continually improve. Indoor production ensures full environmental and quality control, with daily data collection and machine learning generating insights for a self-optimizing facility. Launched after winning the 2013 Hult Prize, Aspire raised $4.25M in seed funding and began operations in Ghana and the USA in 2015. By 2017, they raised $9M in Series A funding and built the first automated cricket farming facility in Austin, Texas. In 2018, they were named to the World Changing Ideas list. In 2019, Aspire closed a major customer deal, securing $40M in Series B funding to build a commercial facility. They broke ground in London, ON in 2020 to construct the world’s largest cricket production facility, completed in 2022. That same year, they were named the top AI solution to address hunger and signed an MOU with Lotte Confectionary. Aspire uses state-of-the-art, smart indoor farming to produce crickets of exceptional quality. Third-party audits confirm that their facility uses a fraction of the land, water, and energy required by traditional livestock and protein production operations. Aspire also produces Frass, an all-natural agricultural product composed of cricket excrements, exoskeletons, and residual plant-based cricket feed. Frass can activate and boost the natural defense of plants, resulting in better survival, adaptability, and greater yields, and has shown promising results as a supplement for aquaculture feed and livestock diets. Crickets are an excellent source of complete protein with all essential amino acids for people and pets. Aspire’s modular vertical farming technology uses less land, water, feed, and emits fewer greenhouse gases than conventional agriculture. Research indicates that 1 in 5 Americans have tried crickets, and more than half of adults can be persuaded to include them in their diet.