16 March, The Hague. Unknown Group is delighted to announce an investment in Burgs Foods. Founded in 2018 by Sander Peltenburg and George Brandenburg, Burgs Foods manufactures sustainable food products made of insects. With their unique insect processing technologies they intend to become the food factory of the future for everything related to processing insects into food.

Under the established brand, De Krekerij, Burgs Foods have rapidly grown to the role of pioneer of the Dutch market in the domain of cricket and grasshopper-made alternative meat products.  

Burgs Foods’ goal is for every European to eat at least one meal per week made of insect meat by 2030. Their products, which include traditional burgers, meatballs and sausage rolls, along with new classics like pulled grasshopper are characterized by three core features: a unique umami flavor, nutrient-rich in nature and sustainable. There is significantly less environmental impact and greater resource efficiency in consuming insects as compared to livestock. 

Named into the prestigious Food100 list of entrepreneurs changing the food landscape, Sander Peltenburg, Co-Founder of Burgs Foods said: “We decided to continue our growth path with Unknown Group because they are real venture builders. Being entrepreneurs themselves with a track record of building great companies, we are confident that Unknown’s experience can slingshot us to more growth”. 

Burgs Foods’ has previously received philanthropic capital from We Share – the non-profit foundation founded by Unknown Chairman, Edward de Jager – in 2018.  “We Share was instrumental in helping us improve and increase the overall quality of our product and processing capacity to a level where we were able to prove our solution on a larger scale”, says Sander Peltenburg.

Edward de Jager, Chairman of Unknown Group said: ”We have known Sander and George for a long time already and consider them strong and dynamic founders. Furthermore, their changemaking contribution to the future of the food industry is driven by sustainable motivation. We see enormous potential in this industry and these founders, and that’s why we welcome them to venture into the Unknown and beyond.”

Peltenburg mentions that the investment from Unknown Group will be used to strategically and sustainably grow their business by increasing their processing capacity, building partnerships to bring their products to market and marketing their products. On immediate goals, he adds: “We want to raise the level of our production facility to the highest possible safety standards – FSSC 22000. When we reach this, we are able to  produce our products under white label for the professional food market throughout Europe. This brings our products to shelves and menus around the continent!”

Dive Deeper:

Sander Peltenburg on the Unknown Stories podcast:

Video highlights of Sander’s podcast episode:

View ‘De Krekerij’s’ venture profile page

About Unknown Group

Unknown is an early-stage venture capital and business development firm, supporting founders and industry leaders to successfully bring innovations to the market: a “Venture Engine®”. With a fresh approach delivering venture success, lining up the industry and creating a pool of solutions ready to be adopted by the market.

Unknown is a merger between VenturesOne group and Unknown Group. Unknown’s experience in global startup scouting and corporate venturing, combined with the investment expertise of VenturesOne, strengthens the ambition to increase the success rate of innovations that address pressing local and global challenges.

For Press Enquiries:

Rayhaan Imam

rayhaan@unknowngroup.com