Connecticut Green Bank provides $1.3M loan to Bright Feeds for food-to-feed expansion

What's the deal? Connecticut Green BankDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has provided a $1.3M loan to Bright Feeds, a New England-based company that converts surplus food into nutrient-optimised animal feed. The financing funded the purchase and installation of a thermal oxidizer at the company's Berlin, Connecticut facility, ensuring compliance with emissions standards as it scales operations.

Bright Feeds can process up to 105,000 tons of unused food per year under its air and waste permits. The company expects the Berlin facility to reach sustained profitability and approach full engineered capacity by late 2027.

"Bright Feeds was founded on the belief that surplus food should be repurposed into a high-quality livestock feed that benefits farmers and the environment," chief executive Jonathan FifeDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → said.

Why now? The deal marks the first completed transaction under the Green Bank's expanded mission into environmental infrastructure, a scope it gained in June 2021 through Public Act 21-115. It also aligns with Connecticut's Comprehensive Materials Management Strategy, which prioritises organic waste diversion and recycling.

"This project serves as a proof point that strategic investments in environmental infrastructure can simultaneously advance state policy, drive meaningful greenhouse gas reductions, and accelerate commercial climate solutions," said Austin Dziki, associate director of environmental infrastructure programmes at the Green Bank.

What could go wrong? Bright Feeds is betting on a steady supply of surplus food from businesses willing to divert waste — a pipeline that depends on partnerships and regulatory incentives holding firm. Reaching full capacity by late 2027 also means the company needs to ramp production significantly while managing permitting and operational complexity at scale.

The signal: Public green banks are moving beyond solar panels and energy efficiency. This deal — the first completed transaction under Connecticut Green Bank's expanded environmental infrastructure mandate — shows how state-backed climate finance is reaching into waste infrastructure and circular-economy models where private capital has been slow to arrive. With Bright Feeds still at the early growth stage, the loan underscores a willingness to back unproven commercial models that align with state policy goals, a playbook other green banks could replicate for food waste, organics processing, and adjacent sectors.