Antoine Hubert did not start with insects. He started with soil.
As an agronomy student, first in Rennes and then in Paris, he became fascinated by the ecology of the ground under our feet. He worked on organic farming, composting and waste processing in non-profit work, building toolkits and partnerships. Nobody pays well for that, and he knew it.
Investors came, famously including Robert Downey Jr.'s fund alongside Astanor.
What almost nobody knew was how the idea for Ynsect arrived. It was not a eureka moment on a farm. He took an existing study from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization on insect farming, a paper explaining that insects could meet the rising demand for protein, and decided somebody should build it at scale. In 2011 he founded Ynsect with Jean-Gabriel Levon, Fabrice Berro and Alexis Angot.
The plan was industrial from day one: grow beetle larvae in tall vertical farms, extract protein for animal feed and fish farms, sell the leftovers as fertiliser. The first farm opened in Dole in 2015. In 2018 a much larger site was announced at Poulainville, near Amiens. A fertiliser authorisation came in 2020, and in 2021 Ynsect bought the Dutch company Protifarm.
Investors came, famously including Robert Downey Jr.'s fund alongside Astanor. In 2023 a Series D brought in €160 million. Over its life Ynsect raised about €600 million. Hubert stepped aside as CEO in July 2023.
Then the arithmetic turned. Costs doubled between 2022 and 2023. Insect meal costs two to ten times as much as fishmeal or soy, and shoppers were not buying insect food in numbers anyone could depend on. The company focused on animal feed. In September 2024 it entered safeguard proceedings; in March 2025, judicial reorganisation. In June 2025 almost 70% of its 200 jobs went. In December 2025 a court ordered liquidation.
The public bill drew political attention. The economy ministry reportedly said about €148 million in public funds had gone in, and one politician called it public money thrown out of the window.
A student who loved soil built a factory that grew insects, and ended up unable to make them cheap enough. Founders in climate technology should remember that a good thesis is not a price. The product must be cheaper than the thing it replaces, not just better for the planet.