Actus des entreprises

Siemens and Nasekomo announced a strategic partnership during COP 28

Nasekomo, a biotech scale-up, and Siemens Bulgaria, a part of the global digital leader Siemens AG, have forged an agreement to collaborate on the digitalization of insect biotransformation—an emerging industry with significant potential for sustainable development.

Dubai, COP 28

The partnership between Siemens and Nasekomo, unveiled during the UN Climate Change Conference COP 28, will serve as the foundation for establishing an intelligent insect industry 4.0. with built-in industrial cyber security to fulfill the growing demand for protein in both quality and quantity. The collaboration aims to expedite the expansion of the insect industry by leveraging digitalization to enhance capacity.

The official signing took place today in the presence of the Bulgarian Minister of Innovation and Growth, Mrs. Milena Stoicheva, and the Minister of Environment and Water in Bulgaria, Mr. Julian Popov. The strategic cooperation document was signed by Virak Chhuor, Vice President of Engineering and Production at Nasekomo, and Dr. Eng. Boryana Manolova, CEO of Siemens for Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Ukraine.

The partnership will bolster Nasekomo's development concept, which envisions a data-driven franchising business model. This involves creating a connected network of factories within European countries initially, and eventually expanding globally. The initial phase of collaboration will focus on establishing a state-of-the-art breeding center to provide a sustainable supply of young insects for the network of bioconversion factories.

"We are at the beginning of the journey, but it is time to lay the groundwork for the execution of our expansion vision. The way to do it is the franchising model, based on data and digital systems to enable it," explained Virak Chhuor. 

This concept not only envisions the automation of processes but also the digitalization of all biological and technological operations within the breeding center, achieved through machine learning and the implementation of cutting-edge technologies like digital twins for production and live insect larvae. With Siemens' support, Nasekomo aims to integrate systems and data from up to 200 planned production sites worldwide in the future. This will ensure intelligently managed operations, reliable AI analytics, and sustainable management."

Marc Bolard, co-founder and co-CEO of biotech scale-up: "Biology is full of surprises, and by studying our insects in depth and tracking biological processes through machine learning, we can achieve much greater efficiency in managing them. Our strategy, based on 4 pillars - biology, technology, digitalization and partnership, aims at strong cooperation with strong partners during the entire production process. We knew from the beginning that we could rely on SIEMENS for this purpose.”

"The collaboration with Nasekomo is a confirmation of Siemens' focus on developing and offering Technology with Purpose, which aims to transform the daily lives of millions of people and make the world a better place to live. Partnering with innovative scale-up companies like Nasekomo allows us to combine the best of both worlds – the large-scale portfolio and global know-how of our over 175-year-old technology company and the unique scale-up business potential represented by Nasekomo,” stated Dr. Eng. Manolova.

The insect industry holds the potential to revolutionize the human food chain by deriving feed ingredients from low-value organic products through the biotransformation capabilities of insects. Market expectations predict that the demand for insect protein will surpass its production by sixfold even before 2030. In contrast to current unsustainable protein extraction and production practices that deplete the planet's resources, insect protein production adopts a sustainable circular model and utilizes fewer resources. Furthermore, each ton of insect protein has the potential to save 10 tons of CO2 emissions through bioconversion. On a global scale, this translates to a potential saving of 150 million tons of CO2 emissions annually with a production volume of 15 million tons. The insect industry emerges as a key solution for decarbonization in the agricultural sector, the food industry, and various other industries.

Maria Alexandrova, Head of Innovative Projects and Sustainability, Nasekomo, stated: „Each facility within the network is planned to convert 100,000 tons of underutilized organic resources into 10,000 tons of valuable insect products, representing a tenfold increase in the value of the transformed biomass.  The far-reaching impact of our entrepreneurial concept extends beyond economic metrics, as it is projected to counterbalance 100,000 tons of CO2 emissions annually, emphasizing the significant environmental contribution of our transformative approach."

About Nasekomo:

Founded in 2017 by Marc Bolard, Xavier and Olga Marcenac, Nasekomo is an agro biotech scale-up developing technologies to scale up insect protein production.

Aiming to reduce food waste, greenhouse gas emissions and the depletion of resources such as water, arable land and marine life stocks, Nasekomo introduces insects into the food life cycle, unleashing their beneficial potential for tomorrow's sustainable world. Nasekomo is working to deploy its own robotic insect farming technology. The company is building an AI-driven business model to optimize, grow and process larvae across a global network of franchisees.

Its head office is located near Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, where the company has already built its industrial size demonstration center, named Nasekomo Insect Center of Excellence.

Additional information can be found at: www.nasekomo.life

About Siemens Bulgaria:

Siemens Bulgaria ("Siemens" EOOD) is part of Siemens AG (with headquarters in Berlin and Munich) - a leading technology company focused on industry, infrastructure, transport, and healthcare. From more resource-efficient factories to sustainable supply chains and smarter buildings and networks to cleaner and more convenient transportation and advanced healthcare, the company creates technologies that deliver real added value. By combining the real and digital worlds, Siemens enables its customers to transform their industries and markets, helping them improve the daily lives of billions of people. The company also owns a majority stake in publicly traded Siemens Healthineers, a leading global medical technology provider shaping the future of healthcare.

In fiscal 2023, which ended on September 30, 2023, the Siemens Group generated revenues of €77.8 billion and net income of €8.5 billion. As of September 30, 2023, the company employs approximately 320,000 people worldwide.