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After building two successful software companies, Bart Roszkowski walked away from SaaS not because he burned out, but because of a personal issue he couldn’t ignore: his aging dog couldn’t thrive on conventional pet food.
What started as a search for answers turned into a full-scale industrial rethink of protein itself. In this Q&A, the Proteine Resources co-CEO explains why most alternative protein startups collapsed, how his AI-driven insect biotech model aims to beat beef on cost and performance, and why the real opportunity isn’t replacing meat - it’s upgrading it.
Bart Roszkowski
We discussed:
Why he left software for manufacturing after realizing “pixels can’t fix a broken food system”
The health turning point that inspired the company’s origin
How EntoPro™ combines engineered insects, mushroom sidestreams, and automation to win on cost and nutrition
Why the real moat is the integration of biology + feedstock + AI production
Why insect protein’s future is as a high-performance enhancer, not a meat replacement
You’ve built software companies like Vue Storefront and Nexto, then jumped into insect biotech and factories. What personal frustration or curiosity pushed you out of SaaS and into this space?
I moved from 'bits' to 'atoms' because moving pixels can't fix a broken global food system. Industrial manufacturing is in my DNA — my father ran a successful printing press — and I saw a massive problem in the low quality of mass-market pet food. Standard extrusion processes are often pro-inflammatory or even carcinogenic, and as pet ownership surges while fertility rates drop, we need better solutions for these family members.
The turning point was my 13-year-old dog, Lida. She was struggling on standard kibbles and monodiets, and I didn't know why. I discovered that the key was diversity and high-quality wet food. I introduced insects as a functional additive, and her vitality returned almost overnight. If it worked for Lida, it can work for others. I left SaaS to make that kind of functional, high-performance nutrition scalable.
You’ve said sustainability isn’t enough – the product also has to be cheaper than beef. What mattered most in getting your costs down: using mushroom waste, automation, or choosing the right insect?
In the alternative protein space, you have to be more than just sustainable; that’s beyond question now. You also have to be cheaper, more nutritious, and of course, tasty. Many companies in the last 15 years forgot these truths and collapsed.
Our flagship product, EntoPro™ - a biologically engineered functional protein, which delivers measurable health benefits for pets - exists because we refused to follow that failed path. By using AI-driven automation, a specially selected insect strain, and feedstock based on mushroom sidestreams (stems & mycelium - rich in nutrients and abundant), we’ve created something truly special: cheaper, nutritious, sustainable, and “tasty”.
You pitched 150 investors before landing €9.5M from the EIC Accelerator. What was the most common objection - and in hindsight, which ones were actually right?
Because the last 15 years are a graveyard of failed investments in alternative proteins. VCs were skeptical because they’d seen too many "science projects" that couldn't scale or achieve technological maturity. We had to prove we finally had a solution that works because it isn't just "green" — it is functional and palatable, solving the real-world performance issues that previous novel proteins ignored.
You chose Buffalo Mealworms instead of Black Soldier Fly (which most of the industry uses). What was the first hard data point that told you BSF would never work for premium pet food - especially for cats?
The industry uses BSF because it’s available, not because it’s the best. Imagine a big, super-fatty pig containing only up to 40% protein base — it’s stinky and not truly sustainable when you look at the operating costs. We went a different path because current solutions lack taste, nutritional profile, or both. With cats, palatability is the key. Our EntoPro™ enhances wet pet food as a natural binder, improves texture and moisture retention and boosts palatability with natural umami taste for picky eaters.
Relying on the same "me-too" ingredient as everyone else is a race to the bottom. The market is so crowded that when you build differentiation only based on marketing, you face 40% higher marketing costs. In such an environment, you have to stand out by following the "food as medicine" trend — functional diets that treat or prevent disease. Otherwise, you die or crawl as a brand.
Most alternative protein companies sell sustainability. You sell performance and price. Why did you decide to enter the market as a B2B ingredient supplier instead of launching a consumer pet food brand?
When a brand comes to a supplier, they expect perfected knowledge: how the ingredient works, how it blends, and if it's actually tasty. We realized that being a "pure supplier" wasn't enough, so we spent countless iterations finding the "sweet spot". That is why we decided to create the VELI brand.
VELI is the synonym for a formula that actually works — a private label brand that you can paint however you want. By using our pre-tested, proven recipes, you get a new product to market in less than 3 months. You can leverage your own brand equity while using our extra-low MOQs to test the waters without the massive R&D risk.
Your factory uses AI and special sensors to spot problems early. Can you share a real example where this system caught an issue before people did?
In SaaS, a "bug" just crashes an app; in my world, a "bug" is a living organism that needs perfect conditions to thrive. Our AI-driven monitoring system uses real-time data to optimize production and eliminate the manual errors that kill industrial consistency.
For example, our sensors provide early stress detection by spotting environmental shifts that lead to mold or contamination long before a human eye would notice. The AI also verifies if the insects are ready to harvest by checking for the perfect ratio of proteins and fats. It even monitors if we’ve successfully transferred all the beneficial compounds from the mushroom sidestreams into the insect bodies. For an SME brand, that precision is their guarantee that the functional benefits they promise on the label are actually in the bag.
You want to grow using small, repeatable factory modules instead of one huge plant. What’s harder to copy and scale: the insects, the technology, or getting access to local mushroom “waste”?
Large mega-factories are a kind of bullshit, especially when the demand is just starting. You have to have a tool that scales with you — adding new modules as you grow, not building a hyper-factory, freezing your money, and waiting for customers. We move step-by-step.
But more importantly, innovation cannot stand on one leg. If your business relies only on a specific bug or just a cheap waste stream, you’re done the moment you lose it. The hardest thing to copy is the perfect synergy of the mix: the Buffalo Mealworm (biological asset), the mushroom sidestreams (feedstock), and the proprietary AI automation (the brain). It’s the integration of all three that creates a moat. If you lose one leg, you fall; we’ve built a tripod that allows us to drop a module anywhere and maintain a 67% protein profile without a team of scientists on-site.
Where do you see the strongest early demand: hypoallergenic diets, veterinary formulas, or everyday premium pet food?
Functional diets are the absolute key. We know that roughly 1/3 of all pet health issues stem from problems with the gut system. When you improve the gut, you don't just fix digestion; you improve cognitive function, immunity, and vitality. Digestive issues and microbiome improvements are our key demand drivers.
I call this trend Naturalist-Tech. It’s the area where you bring scientifically proven effects to the masses at prices that are bearable — not the inflated costs of traditional veterinary diets. Historically, vet diets were either unaffordable or lacked palatability, which limited their results. We’re changing that by making functional nutrition both accessible and tasty.
For pet food brands worried about switching proteins, what’s the biggest misconception they have about insect protein today?
There are two. First, you have to understand that you cannot market alternative proteins in the same way as beef or chicken. That was a fatal mistake made in the past: simply replacing a picture of a steak with a picture of a larva and wondering why it didn’t sell. You don't market the bug; you market the functionality and the results.
Second, many think novel ingredients are total replacements. In the real world, it’s all about the balance. These ingredients are best used as enhancers and blends. Our EntoPro™ is designed to enrich existing recipes — improving texture, moisture, and palatability — rather than just being a 100% swap-out. If you don't find that balance, you lose the consumer.
Looking at the next 3–5 years, do you think insect protein becomes a niche specialty ingredient - or a mainstream protein alongside chicken and beef?
I’ll be honest: I see it as a niche, but a critically important, high-performance niche. People get caught up in the hype of "replacing all the cows in the world," but let’s look at the atoms. In a market as massive as pet food, capturing just 1–2% of total volume isn't small — it’s a massive, multi-billion-dollar territory. That’s a "niche" that can sustain entire industries.
The future isn't about being a 100% replacement for chicken; it’s about being the ingredient that makes the chicken work better. We are building the high-octane fuel for the Naturalist-Tech era. If a brand wants to win in the next five years, they shouldn't try to compete on volume with the meat giants. They should compete on results — using insect protein as a precision tool for vitality, not just another calorie source to fill a bowl.
