At the invitation of the MIT-Kreisverband Giessen, a lecture event with around 80 invited guests took place on Friday, August 29, at the Bioresources branch of the Institute in Giessen. The focus was on industrial insect farming in Giessen and the surrounding regio.

Under the direction of Prof. Andreas Vilcinskas, participants from politics, research, and industry gained comprehensive insights into the latest developments in insect research at Fraunhofer IME. The presentations highlighted the wide-ranging opportunities insect biotechnology offers for sustainable and commercial use.

In his lecture, Prof. Vilcinskas focused on “Insect Biotechnology for the Hessian Bioeconomy” and presented practical application possibilities.

Afterward, Prof. Thomas Wilke addressed the topic “Low Input, High Value – Insects as Up-Cyclers for High-Quality Shrimp Feed.” He not only provided an overview of the already existing shrimp farming facility but also advocated for combining shrimp farming with insect-based feed as a future-proof model.

Andreas Köck, CEO of the newly founded entoSolutions GmbH, shed light on innovative value creation models in industry and agriculture based on professional and industrial insect farming. He described in detail the potential for large-scale insect farming through decentralized insect rearing by major farmers in the region and pointed out the specific characteristics of breeding, processing, and using animal proteins as well as the byproduct known as frass. Regarding frass, together with another colleague, he provided an outlook on its use in producing CO₂-neutral concrete after carbonization.

The event concluded with a short lecture by Leonard Moritz Strube, founding member of the Kassel-based company SWARM Bioactics GmbH. The company develops biorobotic swarms of live cockroaches equipped with ultra-lightweight “backpacks” for control, sensors, and secure communication. These systems can be deployed in hard-to-access and hazardous environments—for example, in industry, disaster relief, or security research. They make use of AI-driven swarm intelligence and provide valuable real-time data.

A highlight of the evening: SWARM Bioactics and Fraunhofer IME signed an agreement for future collaboration and joint research at the Giessen site. This establishes the foundation for an even closer partnership between this innovative start-up from Kassel and top-level research in Central Hesse.

The event made it clear: industrial insect farming offers tremendous opportunities for a sustainable bioeconomy, new business models, and regional value creation.

Frank Ehnis, chairman of the MIT-Kreisverband Giessen, emphasized: “Giessen has the chance to position itself as a hotspot for insect research and applied bioeconomy. If we succeed in establishing the ideas of companies like entoSolutions for industrial insect farming here in the region and in Giessen, and if we manage to attract further companies like SWARM Bioactics to settle in the area, this will create jobs, new value creation for agriculture, and closer cooperation between science and industry—for the benefit of the city of Giessen and the entire regional economy.”

Dominic Eser, deputy chairman of the MIT-Kreisverband Giessen, added: “Our commitment and the background to organizing this lecture series aim at building bridges between applied research, politics, universities, and business, in order to open up this forward-looking market for the commercial use of insects in Giessen. Industrial insect farming provides sustainability and economic scalability—precisely what our region needs for long-term growth.”