Aspire Food Group and its collaborators have secured C$16.8m ($13.2m) from Next Generation Manufacturing (NGen) to support the construction of a cricket protein plant in London, Ontario, Canada.

NGen is an industry-led organisation behind Advanced Manufacturing Supercluster in Canada.

This project is claimed to be one of the largest endeavours funded by NGen under the Canadian Government’s Innovation Supercluster Initiative.

NGen CEO Jayson Myers said: “At $16.8m in NGen funding, this project represents a high mark for NGen.

“This is a truly innovative and ground-breaking project and supports the objectives of NGen – developing transformative and applied world-class advanced manufacturing solutions while creating mutually beneficial partnerships that have will have a positive impact on Canadians and the economy.”

Aspire’s collaborators, including TELUS Agriculture, A&L Canada Laboratories, Swiftlabs, and DarwinAI, will be showcasing their technologies as part of the facility.

Last year, Aspire bought 12 acres of land in Innovation Park in London, Ontario. Construction of the plant is currently underway and operations are expected to commence in Q1 2022.

The plant will employ 60 people and have a production capacity of almost 20,000 metric tonnes per annum (mtpa).

The facility will feature industrial automation and robotics, IoT, and deep learning/analytics to farm crickets that have a similar protein quality to meat and an environmental footprint similar or even better than plants.

This is claimed to be the first time that industrial IoT, sensors, ASRS and AI will be deployed in climate-controlled, indoor vertical agriculture with living organisms.

Aspire Food Group co-founder and CEO Mohammed Ashour said: “Our collaboration with these innovative Canadian firms within the walls of this new facility will have a far-reaching effect. The facility will establish Canada as a leader in the rapidly growing insect and protein industries.

“The technologies and products developed by TELUS Agriculture, Swift Labs, DarwinAI, and A&L Laboratories will accelerate technology adoption in the manufacturing and agricultural industries and grow an inclusive and digitally skilled workforce.”