ATLANTA — Grubbly Farms, an insect-based pet food company, closed its Series A funding round on Nov. 17. The company plans to use funds from the round to double-down on its focus on the pet chicken nutrition market.

Though cats and dogs are the most popular pets in America, pet chickens are the third most popular pet, according to Grubbly Farms. As pet chickens become more common throughout America, the chicken market continues to grow. This particular market is estimated to be worth $4 billion annually.

“When it comes to pet chicken feed, backyard flock owners with a higher standard for quality ingredients were largely underserved,” said Sean Warner, co-founder and chief executive officer of Grubbly Farms. “There’s immense potential for how we can use the black soldier fly grub to support pet nutrition and we know this is just the beginning.”

Grubbly Farms aims to meet increasing demand for high-quality, all-natural chicken feed options that provide healthy nutrition with a minimized environmental impact. The company’s chicken feed is made from black soldier fly (BSF), which produces significantly less greenhouse gas emissions compared to traditional proteins. The BSF are fed food waste which would otherwise end up in landfills. According to Grubbly Farms, it has helped divert more than 30 million lbs of food waste.

Since its founding in 2015, Grubbly Farms has become the dominant premium nutrition brand for backyard pet chicken feed, according to the company, with a 50% subscriber retention rate.