July 5, The Hague. The future of food lies in alternative proteins. Today we are happy to stake a bold claim in tomorrow’s taste by announcing an investment in the market leader in grasshopper meat production, Hargol FoodTech. While the terms of the investment will remain undisclosed, we will be leading Hargol’s business development activities in Europe, finding new markets and applications for their grasshopper-as-protein products.

Founded in 2014 by the Israeli trio of Dror Tamir, Chanan Aviv and Ben Friedman, Hargol is leading the charge of newfound interest in the domain of insect meat as a more sustainable and nutritious alternative to traditional meat. They have amassed over 20 awards for their innovative grasshopper farming technology, including the title of Global Winner at the Get in the Ring Global Startup Competition 2017. 

From their state-of-the-art, 13,000 sq. ft. facility in Kidmat Tzvi in Northern Israel – the first and largest commercial grasshopper farm in the world – Hargol produces over 40 million grasshoppers annually. Their key market is the fitness and supplements industry, for which they developed ‘PRO72’, a grasshopper-made protein powder. Packed with nutrients, it contains 72% proteins and all 9 amino acids – significantly more than the prevalent whey and soy protein powder varieties.

Dror Tamir, CEO and Co-Founder of Hargol said: “We’re very happy to have Unknown Group on board as an investor. The vision of Hargol is very much in line with Unknown’s – both companies want to go beyond the offerings that are available in the market and provide something that is ‘better’ in every aspect. Unknown goes beyond VC financing with their business development expertise and we at Hargol make a protein alternative that is healthier and more sustainable than other options”.

Willem Knaap, Global Director of Tomorrow’s Taste, Unknown Group’s Venture Engine in the food and agri domain said: “Following our investment in leading cricket producer Burgs Foods earlier this year, we noticed multiple supply chain challenges in the insect meat space – from sourcing to production to finally bringing to market. This challenge turned into an opportunity for us to leverage our Venture Engine to scale promising solutions with the help of leading corporates and experts in the industry”. He continues, “We believe the Venture Engine is a more coherent and holistic approach to scaling promising solutions. By investing in interlinked levels of the supply chain, we’re increasing the venture’s ability to make tangible and lasting change. We’re very happy to have Hargol onboard and truly believe in their potential to change the world!”.

Dive Deeper

• Hargol’s venture page on unknowngroup.com
• Tomorrow’s Taste – The Unknown Group Food and Agri Venture Engine
• Dror Tamir on his entrepreneurial journey appearing on the Unknown Stories podcast (below)

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