Paris based company Standing Ovation specialises in producing animal-free casein through precision fermentation. They just raised an impressive €30 million as part of French efforts to preserve technical sovereignty and secure supply with modern food production science. Certainly deserving of a standing ovation.
The patented manufacturing process involves microorganisms (like yeast or bacteria) that are programmed with genetic instructions to produce specific milk proteins. The microbes act like miniature protein factories, secreting caseins that are bio-identical to those found in cow’s milk. The protein is then purified and converted into a powder that can be used to create cheese, yogurt and cream. A particularly attractive aspect of the Standing Ovation Advanced Casein® tech is a remarkable ability to up-cycle underutilised agricultural outputs (such as damaged vegetables) as feedstock, lending the company and its clients defensible sustainability credentials.
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The company recently closed a €30 million Series B funding round led by Bpifrance, via the France 2030 initiative and with the participation of Crédit Mutuel Innovation. The €54 billion France 2030 fund launched in 2021, with a goal to radically transform key sectors of the French economy through innovation and to ensure “industrial sovereignty” in the face of global competition. The fund provided grants to other foodtech startups in the past including Atypique, a clearing house for unsaleable fruit and vegetables. Standing Ovation has completed “Self-affirmed GRAS” (Generally Recognized as Safe) status in the U.S., an internal milestone which paves the way towards FDA approval (if required) and first commercial product launches across the Atlantic in late 2026.
Co-founder and chief technologist Romain Chayot completed his Ph.D. at the world famous Pasteur Institute before working in a variety of roles in the French food manufacturing sector. With a focus on food safety, microbiology, and nutrition, the institute bridges the gap between microbiology research and public health applications. Louis Pasteur’s work on pasteurisation set the foundation for the institute, but modern day activities involve detecting pathogens, understanding gut microbiota, and analysing foodborne disease risk. The Pasteur Institute has been home to ten Nobel laureates and numerous pioneering researchers in immunology, virology, and bacteriology across its 137 year history.
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Image credit: Natacha LSP, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
