This follows a previous £1.7m investment led by TRICAPITAL in 2023, supporting the company’s ambition to become a global leader in the field.

Beta Bugs was launched in Edinburgh in 2017 by CEO and founder Dr Thomas Farrugia and is based at the Easter Bush Campus – a centre of excellence for animal genetics and home to the Roslin Institute.

The investment will enable Beta Bugs to further accelerate its development into an international player in Black Soldier Fly genetics, as well as enabling the company to scale up production of eggs and juvenile larvae to supply to insect farming operations.

Over the past decade, black soldier fly farming has developed extensively as an industry.

The larvae possess an ability to simultaneously divert food, agricultural and industrial waste from disposal and instead up-cycle it into a green, circular and regionally produced nutrient-rich ingredient for the pet, aqua and livestock sectors.

As a result, black soldier fly farms are already being deployed by waste processors, retailers and food manufacturers to reduce their waste footprint, whilst producing an alternative feed to replace environmentally damaging soymeal and fishmeal production.

Beta Bugs has already made great strides in selectively breeding superior black soldier flies, which are larger and faster growing, thereby improving the efficiency of converting waste into useful protein and oil.

With the additional investment, the genetics team will be expanded and the breeding programme will move to the next level.

The company is now building the capability to deliver its superior flies to black soldier fly producers and is already developing commercial relationships with the first large scale producers in the UK.

Dr Farrugia said: “This funding allows us immediately to accelerate our growth on key fronts. We are investing significantly in our Breeding Programme to deliver further genetic gains with our HiPer-Fly® products.

“Additionally, we are increasing our production capacity to a larger scale to meet rising customer demand for our key product formats – eggs, young larvae and juvenile larvae, across the UK and European market.

“Crucially, we are strengthening our key team with key hires. We have already recruited a specialist in up-scaling black soldier fly production and establishing strategic partnerships, and are now actively recruiting for expertise in finance, operations and genetics.

“This ensures that we continue to provide our customers with the critical, hands-on, expert advice that will help them optimise and grow their output on their scale-up journey.”

Moray Martin, CEO of TRICAPITAL Angels, said: “Beta Bugs is clearly on a strong growth trajectory, and we remain dedicated to strengthening our partnership with them to support their mission of delivering high-quality insect genetics and products.

“Their innovative breeding programme has given them a distinct genetic advantage, as evidenced by their accelerating commercial progress. This investment round will pave the way to large-scale production, combining genetic innovation with increased output.

“As a result, Beta Bugs will be able to supply its customers with eggs, young and juvenile larvae, empowering black soldier fly producers to compete with fishmeal—and eventually soy – on both output and price.”

Scottish Enterprise Director of Entrepreneurship and Investment Kerry Sharp said: “This investment underscores our commitment to using our world-class innovation capabilities to increase the number of ambitious companies scaling up in Scotland, helping them create quality, high-value jobs and compete and lead in international markets.

“There are several industries of the future where Scotland has global strengths, including industrial biotechnology, and building on that through support for companies such as Beta Bugs is crucial to their continued growth.”

The investment deal follows a record-breaking year for TRICAPITAL Angels, which completed 18 deals throughout 2024.

Its high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth members subscribed more than £3.5m of their own money into some of the country’s most innovative companies over the past 12 months.

That investment has leveraged close to £30m of investment overall helping to create more than 500 jobs in sectors ranging from artificial intelligence and biotech to renewable energy.