- The company secures a $28.5 million (€25 million) Series B financing round led by the Ecotechnologies 2 fund managed on behalf of the French government by Bpifrance, and Crédit Mutuel Innovation, alongside its existing shareholders and leading investors, bolstered by an additional $5.7 million (€5 million) in non-dilutive financing
- Danone Ventures joins Bel Group as a shareholder in Standing Ovation
- This funding will primarily be used to accelerate the commercialization of our proteins in North America, prior to expanding into Europe and Asia, supported by the increase in our existing manufacturing capacity
Standing Ovation, a French precision fermentation pioneer producing next-generation proteins, has announced a $34.2 million (€30 million) Series B financing round, including $28.5 million in equity (€25 million), led jointly by the Ecotechnologies 2 fund—managed on behalf of the French government by Bpifrance as part of the France 2030 initiative— and Crédit Mutuel Innovation, alongside its existing investors—Astanor, Bel Group, Seventure Partners, GoodStartUp, and Big Idea Ventures—joined by Danone Ventures, Angelor, Newtree, and Noshaq. This investment is supplemented by $5.7 million (€5 million) in non-dilutive financing provided by Bpifrance and a leading banking syndicate.
This new funding round, which follows a €16 million Series A, will finance the commercial rollout of Standing Ovation’s proteins in the United States and, starting end of 2027, in Europe and Asia. The investment from French agri-food giants Groupe Bel and Danone serves as a powerful endorsement of Standing Ovation’s sustainable and sovereign model. Standing Ovation is redefining dairy protein production with a patented process that turns whey permeates into high-value caseins—a premium ingredient in critical demand across the global agrifood industry. The ability to repurpose dairy co-products, which are currently of little to no value, is a major milestone that reshapes the future of the ecosystem.
Yvan Chardonnens, CEO, and Romain Chayot, Co-founder and Managing Director of Standing Ovation : “We thank our investors for their trust and commitment. With the support of leaders like Bel and Danone alongside our industrial partners, our patented technology is becoming the focal point for an industry-wide shift toward sustainable, high-performance proteins. Our ambition is to pioneer a new, circular, and sustainable approach to protein production to meet rapidly growing global demand. By combining technological innovation with the dairy industry’s expertise, we are bridging the gap between the agri-food industry and deep tech. Backed by strong technological barriers to entry, we are accelerating our rollout and helping to strengthen European food sovereignty.”
A world-first, patented technology
Co-founded in 2020 by Managing Director Romain Chayot, a trained agricultural engineer, and led by CEO Yvan Chardonnens, a specialist in B2B strategic transformation, Standing Ovation is based in Paris and employs 36 people. A French Tech 2030 laureate, Standing Ovation has shielded its technology with eight patent families. This breakthrough process upcycles agricultural sugars and milk whey—previously diverted to fertilizer or biogas—into high-quality casein, the cornerstone of dairy protein. This disruptive technology addresses several global challenges :
- A market opportunity driven by the rapid global growth in demand for protein and protein-rich products—it is estimated that an additional 250 million metric tons of protein will be needed by 2050. Standing Ovation provides a complementary and sustainable protein source with enhanced functional properties.
- A matter of national sovereignty : Standing Ovation repurposes local circular resources, effectively reducing the industry's dependence on international supply chains. This issue is all the more critical given that France’s self-sufficiency in milk could be at risk in the next years.
- An environmental benefit, as Standing Ovation’s process drastically reduces the strain on global resources (a 74% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and up to three times less water usage compared to animal casein, according to an ISO-certified life cycle assessment).
A win-win model for the dairy sector and the food industry
Standing Ovation is building a model where farmers and manufacturers thrive together. Our process turns dairy side-streams into profitable new markets for producers, and offers the food industry a reliable, high-performance solution to the rising global demand for dairy and protein-rich products. Furthermore, this new resource has the advantage of contributing to the necessary decarbonization of their processing operations. All these factors explain the strategic and industrial partnerships with two French agri-food leaders : the Bel Group since 2022, and now Danone.
A Series B round to accelerate commercialization
With this Series B funding round, Standing Ovation will accelerate the commercialization of its casein. The company has made the strategic decision to partner with manufacturers who are experts in fermentation, rather than opening its own facilities. The United States is Standing Ovation’s primary market, with plans to expand into Europe and Asia starting end of 2027.
What is casein?
Milk proteins are in high demand across both the food industry and consumer markets. Casein is the most abundant : one liter of milk contains 28 grams of casein and 3 grams of beta-lactoglobulin, another protein. As a cornerstone of the dairy industry, casein is essential to the production of everything from cheese and yogurt to ice cream and protein shakes—representing a vast global market. Standing Ovation is the first company in the world to produce casein on a large scale.
Edouard Combette, Senior Investment Director, Bpifrance Green Venture : “Standing Ovation is developing a disruptive technology to produce highly functional proteins with a low environmental footprint, establishing itself as a key player in the sustainable transformation of the food industry. By upcycling dairy permeates through a circular economy approach, the company stands out as a strategic partner of choice for major industrial leaders, as demonstrated by the continued confidence of Bel Group and Danone. We are very proud to support Standing Ovation in this new stage of its development.”
Laurianne Garcia-Ordonez, Director of Investments at Crédit Mutuel Innovation : “Consumption of dairy products is growing every year in Europe, while global warming and declining livestock populations suggest that milk production will decrease or even stagnate. Through its production of casein via precision fermentation, Standing Ovation perfectly solves this challenge, making a significant contribution to decarbonizing the dairy sector and adding value to key co-products. With this first investment in the agri-food sector, Crédit Mutuel Innovation reaffirms its ambition in the broad life sciences sector.”
Eric Archambeau, Managing Partner at Astanor, says : “Since the initial seed investment in 2021 of Astanor in Standing Ovation, we have been alongside the founding team in their impressive evolution from a highly technical R&D organization into one of the most advanced industrial players in precision-fermented dairy proteins, positioning itself as a leading supplier of functional and specialty proteins for both alternative and conventional dairy applications.”
Caroline Sorlin, Chief Venture Officer at Bel Group : “Three years after identifying Standing Ovation as a true gem of the FoodTech sector, our renewed strategic partnership and significant participation in this Series B round confirm our long-term commitment. As a pioneer, Bel is proud to continue this win-win collaboration, blending our historic cheese-making expertise with their cutting-edge technology. Together, we are accelerating the concrete application of innovation to transform the food model, ensuring we provide sustainable, high-quality, and accessible products that meet the expectations of tomorrow’s consumers.”
Jakub Kalinowski, Managing Director, Danone Ventures : “Standing Ovation embodies the kind of breakthrough, science-based innovation that Danone Ventures is proud to support. Their approach to producing bioidentical caseins through precision fermentation offers meaningful progress across Danone’s Impact Journey, from advancing nutrition to enabling more sustainable, circular production models. We look forward to partnering with the Standing Ovation team and helping unlock opportunities across Danone to accelerate their impact.”