Our story started in 2009 when Dirk Wessendorf recognized the potential of the black soldier fly and started rearing insects. Many production and innovation cycles later, he founded Illucens, together with two specialists in the food industry, Martin Ewering and Günter Wielens. Together they have the strong belief that the black soldier fly is a key to a more sustainable and ecologically-friendly food system. Their ingenious technological solution provides for an additional benefit from formerly unused sidestreams proving that ecology and economy do not exclude one another.
Dirk Wessendorf
CEO
Dirk is a serial entrepreneur in the fields of fermentation and construction. He invented and built our first fully automated factory.
Martin Ewering
Head of Engineering
Martin has designed and built our automation system with the use of rapid prototyping & advanced digital solutions that collect real time data and maximize performance.
Günter Wielens
Feed Formulation Specialist
Expert in high performance feed formulations and technological platforms needed to produce animal feed.
Norbert Hunke
Norbert is very experienced in managing industrial-scale solutions and production. He supports the team by improving the innovation and automation of Illucens technology all over the factory.
Niklas Wolfering
Niklas works on assessing the sustainability and environmental impact of Illucens. He runs different tests along the factory to create sustainability reports that improve our performance and knowledge of our impact.
Nicole Borowy
Nicole resolves design and development challenges along the production line. She’s great at creating a more efficient and automated production process.
Lukas Höper
Leads and coordinates various engineering functions and operations including quality assurance, testing, production, and research and development of new and existing product lines. This helps Illucens automated technology to improve over time.
