Leiden-based In Ovo, a Dutch agritech scale-up, announced on Thursday, November 2, that it has secured €40M in loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB).
The funding will support the development of In Ovo’s technology, Ella, which accurately determines the sex of eggs at an early stage.
According to the scale-up, currently, around 6.5 billion male chicks are culled globally each year due to their lack of economic value. Ella allows hatcheries to selectively hatch only female chicks, eliminating the need to euthanise male chicks after hatching.
Capital utilisation
In Ovo says it will use the funds to develop its technologies, Ella and Eve.
Ella prevents the mass culling of male chicks, while Eve monitors the hatching process to ensure healthier chicks.
In Ovo will also use the money to continue innovation for better animal welfare and sustainability in the poultry sector.
Wouter Bruins, co-founder of In Ovo says, “We are extremely proud and grateful for this prestigious and major support from the EIB. This loan not only confirms In Ovo’s position as a leading scale-up in the agritech sector but is also an important milestone in the company’s growth.”
European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakides adds, “Ensuring animal welfare standards in Europe – which are among the highest in the world – is a priority for us.”
“With this technology, we will end the systematic killing of millions of male chicks throughout the European Union. This is an important step in our work to improve animal welfare standards in our Union.”
What does EIB offer?
The European Investment Bank (EIB), an EU financing institution collectively owned by member states, has invested over €10B in Dutch projects in the past five years. It aims to support EU policy objectives through long-term financing.
The InvestEU programme, a crucial initiative, provides long-term financing, mobilising private and public resources to help the EU’s sustainable recovery. It facilitates private investment for key EU goals like the European Green Deal and digital transition, simplifying and streamlining the financing of investment projects in Europe.
EIB’s financial support for In Ovo was made possible by the InvestEU programme.
Speaking about the investment in In Ovo, EIB’s VP Kris Peeters says, “In Ovo’s technology represents an improvement in animal welfare and sustainability in the poultry sector, which fits well within the EIB’s policy priorities.”
“In recent years we have supported several important innovations from the Netherlands and we want to continue to do so, especially when it comes to technologies that are so relevant to the environment,” adds Peeters.
Brief about In Ovo
In 2011, Wouter Bruins (trained as a biologist) and Wil Stutterheim (trained as a biomedical scientist), students at Leiden University, identified the issue of culling day-old male chicks in the poultry sector.
Recognising the lack of a solution, they founded In Ovo in 2013, leveraging their business, technology, and ethics expertise. With support from Leiden University and the Leiden Bio Science Park, they embarked on a mission to address this problem, laying the foundation for their poultry welfare solutions.
In Ovo aims to enhance animal welfare and sustainability in the poultry industry. Its flagship product, Ella, produced gender-specific chicks in 2020, eliminating the need to cull male chicks.
“With our groundbreaking scientific and technological innovations, we aim to improve the lives of 5,000,000,000 animals per year by 2030,” says In Ovo.
01
From port to startup fort: How Lars Crama is ‘Making it Happen’ in Rotterdam