Investment for InsectSense to further improve objective taste measurement
Natural sense of smell and taste on a chip to improve food products.
Published on February 1, 2025
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InsectSense, a Wageningen-based biotech startup, has raised a pre-seed round of €800,000 from Capricorn Partners, Oost NL and an angel investor. The company is focused on developing its ReceptomiX technology for objectively measuring taste characteristics. The investment will enable the company to prepare its technology for market launch, strengthen its team and further develop the ReceptomiX equipment and software.
InsectSense, founded by Aria Samimi (CEO) and Leon Schipper (CTO), is a deep-tech start-up that can objectively measure taste properties. Its initial product version consists of a biochip with human and insect receptors, a benchtop device that reads signals, and software that allows interpretation of the data.
Objectively measuring taste
The ReceptomiX technology objectively and quickly measures how the bioactivity of molecules affects taste perception and health effects. Unlike traditional analytical methods that only identify the molecules in a product, ReceptomiX mimics insect antennae and combines it with human DNA for detection to gain insight into how humans perceive these molecules. Now, taste and food producers still rely on subjective human panels for such assessments.
The investment allows InsectSense to further develop its technology. Aria Samimi, CEO of InsectSense, emphasizes the importance of the investment: “This pre-seed capital helps us gather market feedback from first customers, at the same time we can invest in R&D to create a mass-producible biochip. Attracting investment for start-up deep-tech companies developing platform technologies is often challenging.”
The funding round is made possible by the Dutch Industrial Biotech Seed Fund, managed by Capricorn Partners' Cleantech Team, and the Innovation and Energy Fund Gelderland, managed by Oost NL, the regional development agency for the East Netherlands region. An angel investor was linked through Oost NL's Business Angel network.
Taste as an obstacle
Investment Director Damien van der Bijl sees the great promise of ReceptomiX: “We look forward to working with the team at InsectSense to bring this exciting technology to market. Taste is still one of the biggest obstacles in developing meat and dairy alternatives, and relying on subjective taste panels makes it costly and time-consuming. InsectSense is the ideal partner for anyone developing tomorrow's food and beverage solutions, and it has the team to deliver.”
Jos Putker, investment manager of Food at Oost NL: “We have been involved in developing InsectSense from a very early stage. It is great to see how the team and the technology are developing. This investment enables them to take the next step in the market. Ultimately, InsectSense's technology will help food producers deliver tasty products to consumers. This will also benefit the development of alternative protein products, allowing us to accelerate the protein transition.”