Ento is an early stage alternative protein company specializing in farming, food technology and distributing edible insects (crickets and larvae) for human consumption
Ento, a Malaysia-based alternative protein company has announced the launch of its equity crowdfunding campaign (ECF) via Fundnel, marking one of the world’s first alternative protein companies to raise money via the ECF route.
Ento is an early stage alternative protein company specializing in farming, food technology and distributing edible insects (crickets and larvae) for human consumption.
Insect protein is not exactly new. As early as 2013, the United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization published a comprehensive White Paper report supporting the nutritional and environmental benefits of insect-based protein. With increasing global investment interest in the agrifood and food technology sectors, Ento’s ECF campaign now provides public and retail investors the opportunity to invest in this booming sector where previously early stage deals were only accessible to selected angel investors, venture capital funds and private equity firms.
Founder & CEO Kevin Wu commented, “Over the past 2 years, we’ve seen a large shift in consumers’ food habits and growing interest in healthy and sustainable food products and brands. Millennials and Gen Z are generally more open-minded to the idea of purchasing and consuming new food products, which is a core driver for the growth of the alternative protein industry. In terms of investment, there have been tremendous increase in investors’ appetite for deals in the alternative protein sector. The appetite for investment is also supported by the recent successful IPO by Beyond Meat, which proves there is solid market demand for food technology and alternative protein companies. We are currently raising our seed round via ECF and investors can invest as little as US$1,250 for shares in a fast-growing food tech company. The long-term goal is to grow our company to IPO stage, marking the world’s first edible insect protein company to launch an IPO. This can happen within the next 7-10 years given the booming demand for alternative protein and interest in agrifood sector.”
Ento chose to launch on Fundnel, a Singaporean-based and South East Asia’s largest private investment technology platform that has in the past raised money for SpaceX, Grab, WeWork and more.
Ento initially caught public attention in mid 2019 when it launched a range of whole roasted cricket snacks, the first to market in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia
