Edinburgh based The Insect Café raises £160k from Catalyst Fund and Firstport
This article covers The Insect Café, a foodtech startup, which has secured £160k in a revenue-based financing round from the Catalyst Fund to bring production in-house and commercialise Nahla’s Insect Nutrition, a single-ingredient cricket protein powder, with a planned launch in early 2027. The financing aims to localise farming, processing and packaging in Scotland to support scaling of insect-based protein production and broaden consumer access to a minimally processed alternative protein.
Edinburgh foodtech startup The Insect Café has secured £160,000 in a Revenue Based Financing round from the Catalyst Fund to finish bringing production in-house and commercialise Nahla’s Insect Nutrition, a single-ingredient cricket protein powder, with a planned launch in early 2027. The deal funds the move to local farming, processing and packaging in Scotland and aims to expand access to minimally processed alternative protein.
Why it matters
Alternative proteins are moving from concept to commercial products, and localising production could change how those supply chains function. By investing in a company that grows, harvests and processes crickets in Scotland, this financing targets two common challenges for novel food businesses: fragmented supply chains and the capital intensity of scaling production. For consumers, a single-ingredient cricket powder offers a simple entry point into insect-based nutrition beyond niche snack products.
Inside the product
Nahla’s Insect Nutrition is a clean‑label protein powder made solely from crickets, formulated for use in baked goods, everyday cooking and smoothies. The product evolved from The Insect Café’s early market testing in 2023, when founder Nahla Mahmoud sold cricket flour baking at local events to gauge consumer interest.
The business emphasises local sourcing and lower supply-chain complexity: the plan is to raise and process crickets in Scotland, work with local suppliers and service providers, and use compostable packaging. The company highlights nutritional benefits — noting crickets contain more than twice the protein of beef — and positions the powder as a minimally processed alternative suited to everyday use rather than sports‑only formulations.
Who are the investors?
The £160,000 funding comes via the Catalyst Fund, a social investor vehicle managed by Firstport, delivered through the Ventures Catalyst partnership between The Ventures Lab and the Catalyst Fund. The Ventures Lab supported The Insect Café with business planning, growth strategy and investor readiness; the partnership is intended to bridge specialist support and patient social investment.
The Catalyst Fund provided patient, revenue‑linked capital rather than conventional fixed repayments. The fund’s structure ties repayments to business performance, offering flexibility for early commercialisation phases.
In the announcement, Emily Macdonald, Head of Investment Programmes at Firstport, said:
The Insect Café has developed an innovative product that combines strong commercial potential with a clear environmental mission. Through support from Ventures Lab, Nahla and her team developed a robust plan to bring farming, processing and distribution in-house, creating the foundations for sustainable growth. We are pleased to provide the flexible capital needed to help bring those plans to life, and we look forward to supporting the team as they scale their impact.
In the announcement, Sarah Frame, Venture Support Manager at The Ventures Lab, said:
The Insect Café is a great example of how innovative ideas can grow into investment-ready businesses with the right support. It has been a pleasure working with Nahla throughout this journey, and we look forward to continuing to support the business as it grows its reach and impact.
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Founder perspective
Nahla Mahmoud founded The Insect Café after combining a background in zoology, insect husbandry and applied research with her experience as a baker and open‑water swimmer. Her early experiments aimed to create less processed recovery nutrition than existing market options.
In the announcement, Nahla Mahmoud, founder of The Insect Café, said:
This investment allows us to bring production in-house, build local protein production capacity in Scotland and make insect protein accessible to a much wider audience. We want to demonstrate that a different approach to food production is possible- one that is transparent, diversified and rooted in local ecosystems.
The bigger picture
The deal highlights growing avenues of finance for mission‑driven food ventures, with revenue‑based financing increasingly used to give founders flexibility while they scale revenue. It also feeds into a broader push for resilient, local food systems in the UK and Europe and reflects rising interest from foodtech investors in alternative proteins that promise lower environmental footprints and simpler supply chains.
Local production pilots like this will be watched for indications of consumer uptake, cost competitiveness and regulatory pathways for insect ingredients as companies move from market testing to full commercial launches in the next one to two years.
The Insect Café’s move from market stalls to an in‑house production plan illustrates how targeted support programmes and flexible capital can help UK startups in foodtech translate early demand into scalable, locally rooted businesses.
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