© Loopworm
The round was led by WaterBridge Ventures, an existing investor and Japanese venture capital firm, Enrission India Capital.
Founded by Ankit Alok Bagaria and Abhi Gawri, graduates of the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Loopworm has developed a new approach to producing recombinant proteins. This type of protein is typically made by the insertion of genes into host organisms like yeast or bacteria to instruct them to make proteins of medical or industrial importance. Traditionally, this requires expensive equipment and energy-intensive bioreactors. Under its proprietary novel process, Loopworm bypasses this entirely by using silkworms as living factories to produce complex proteins, enabling faster, cheaper and more sustainable production.
“Recombinant protein manufacturing has long been constrained by expensive infrastructure and slow scalability,” said Bagaria in a press release. “Our reactor-free approach using silkworms changes the economics entirely. Having proven the technology, we are now focusing on commercialising our recombinant protein production platform, initially targeting diagnostics, animal vaccines and other applications with lower regulatory barriers.”
“As biotech evolves, the demand for manufacturing platforms that combine speed, cost-efficiency and scalability continues to grow. Our silkworm-based platform is uniquely positioned to meet these needs with unmatched flexibility and affordability. With this new funding, we’re accelerating our efforts to make a meaningful contribution to India’s national bio-economy vision,” added Gawri.
Loopworm currently operates a facility in Bangalore with an annual insect processing capacity of 6,000 tonnes, exporting insect-derived protein and oil for use in aquafeeds or pet nutrition across Europe, South America and ASEAN markets. Alongside its commercial growth, the company has made progress on the biotech front, including successfully producing complex proteins like antigens and growth factors in silkworm pupae.
The company has filed multiple patents on its recombinant protein platform, secured regulatory approvals for R&D-scale production and is building a broader compliance and intellectual property framework.
“Loopworm is testament to the dominant role Indian startups can play in the global biotech industry. Their silkworm recombinant platform isn’t just novel - it’s a potential leapfrog moment for biotech in India.” said Ashish Jain, partner at WaterBridge.
