Leave a Nest Capital Invests in Ecologgie Inc., a Venture Company from Waseda University

Leave a Nest Group has invested through Leave a Nest Capital Co., Ecologgie Inc. (Head Office: Tokyo; Representative Director: Mr. Seiya Ashikari; hereinafter “Ecologgie”).  Ecologgie is a venture company from Waseda University and is developing a decentralized production model with a cricket farmer network in emerging countries. Ecologgie Inc. aims to realize a resource-recycling society by utilizing the biological characteristics of crickets, based on the vision of “creating a sustainable ecosystem where the earth and nature become healthy with our food”.

Since its foundation in 2017, the company has promoted research on cricket production at Waseda University in Japan and moved its base to Cambodia in 2019 to establish a local cricket mass production system. The company will start selling cricket raw materials to the global market, including Japan, in 2021.

Taking advantage of the characteristics of crickets, which are omnivorous and thrive on little nutrition, Ecologgie Inc. collects 80 tons of food loss annually from confectionery manufacturers, beer breweries, and restaurants to develop a unique blend of these materials to feed crickets. Cricket production, which is more labor-efficient than conventional crops, is easy for low-income farmers in Cambodia and other countries to engage in as a side business and has the potential to become a new source of income. Ecologgie Inc. has already established a network of about 50 local farmers by entering into production contracts with them and is contributing to improving their living standards through a decentralized production model scattered in rural areas of emerging countries, rather than a centralized large-scale factory production model.

Leave a Nest Group has decided to invest in Ecologgie Inc. because it shares the commitment to solving poverty issues in agriculture in Cambodia and other countries through the use of cricket production technology and realizing a recycling-oriented society. 

With this financing, Ecologgie Inc. aims to enter the global market for insects as raw materials, to accelerate marketing and sales promotion activities to improve brand recognition and expand its sales.

Moving forward, Leave a Nest Group will continue to create deep tech solutions to solve deep issues in Southeast Asia related to poverty and food waste to contribute to global happiness.

About Ecologgie

• Company Name: Ecologgie Inc.
• Website: https://ecologgie.com/en/
• Head Office: Room 12, Incubation Center, Waseda University, 1-22-3 Nishi-Waseda, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan
• Representative Director: Mr. Seiya Ashikari
• Incorporation: 1 December 12017