- Loan Successfully Funded On 14 Mar 2022 and Fully Repaid
Connecting Cambodian cricket farmers to global markets
Agri House Co., LTD.
- Phnom Penh, Cambodia
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- 70,000 AUD
Loan has been fully repaid
The loan capital will be used to develop export readiness of our operational teams and farming communities for Cricket House to tap into the growing global alternative protein markets. Gaining certification and eventual export of Cambodian cricket flour ensures demand and livelihoods for up to 300 farming beneficiaries.
- 13 Lenders
Committed
- 30 months
Loan Period
- 8%
Interest Rate
- BACKGROUND
Loan summary
Cricket House have successfully piloted and sold solar powered and agtech regulated cricket raising environments, as part of their long term vision of connecting Cambodian cricket farmers to global alternative protein markets. The team have now successfully sold over 30 cricket raising kits – with 20 to Samaritan’s Purse for income generating opportunities for their 109 beneficiaries – whilst securing a World Food Program grant to develop a new cricket enhanced, nutritionally balanced snack for the Cambodian primary school age market. This new product entry to the local market will allow the team to expand their staff to include food technologists, sales and equipment purchases, and deliver impact to over 300 beneficiaries. However, Cricket House still requires the capital to ensure they are able to reach their intended target of export ready cricket flour, whilst they strengthen their local market capacity and sales.
Borrower's mission
Cricket House has two primary product areas: 1) the creation and supply of innovative solar powered agtech to raise crickets, and 2) the supply of cricket based products for human consumption in local and global markets. In 2022, the team will also develop a third product – plant based feedstock for the cricket farmers, to ensure that our cricket based powder matches the requirements of the EU market and future customers.
We already have export connections in Europe, and with that market coming online in the next two years, we can provide ongoing impact for Cambodian families, but also have significant environmental benefit as Western families switch from meat and soy based proteins to crickets, which have significantly less resource requirements and much less impact on the planet.
The activities funded by this loan are helping to achieve the above Sustainable Development Goals as defined by the UN.
Intermediary's experience with impact enterprises
For more than 8 years, Red Hat Impact has helped impact enterprises by raising capital and providing other kinds of business and strategy support. We have raised more than $3M from our network of impact investors, and loaned this capital to support 30 enterprises. We use a crowd-lending model to raise loan capital. As of May 2024, we maintain a 98% success rate on loan repayment. We establish close working relationships with all of the impact enterprises we raise debt capital for, and co-manage risks with them during the loan term.
- IMPACT
Impacts and how they are measured
We have 3 different impact areas: 1) alternative incomes for farmers and urban poor, 2) the environmental benefits of alternative proteins, and 3) the nutritional impacts for Cambodian youth through our World Food Program snack range. We are working closely with our local and international NGO partners to assess the impact of our partnership on the communities they work with, both economically and socially. Families benefit beyond just income generation as cricket raising can increase family nutrition and provide frass (waste product) as a fertiliser for home and farm gardens. We are constantly working to ensure we can assess our global environmental impact, and will work with major partners to design this process over the next year.
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