€460,000 funding for SMEs focused on edible insects

The ValuSect consortium is supporting 18 SMEs with 460,000 euros in funding to foster their work on edible insects. The aim is to help strengthen insect cultivation and boost consumer acceptance in North-West Europe, says Interreg North-West Europe in a press release.

After the success of the first voucher call last year, the Interreg NWE project ValuSect launched a second call on December 6, 2021. This voucher call also generated a great deal of enthusiasm among SMEs active in the edible insect sector. In total, the ValuSect consortium received 26 submissions from 24 different applicants.

“We are thrilled that there is such a high level of interest from SMEs to make use of our services. The growing sector of edible insect products has so much potential and we’re pleased that we can stimulate its development,” emphasizes Sabine van Miert, project manager, Thomas More University of Applied Sciences (Belgium).

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Vouchers

ValuSect experts evaluated the submissions and chose the 18 best-scoring proposals. Each selected SME will receive a voucher for services from ValuSect partners worth 10,000, 20,000 or 40,000 euros.

The vouchers cover a wide range of subject areas. From developing a feed substrate or a new type of fresh product to gaining knowledge about the tastes of consumers. Five selected SMEs are in the UK, three each in Belgium, Germany and Switzerland, two in France, and one in Ireland and in the Netherlands.