Food-tech Standing Ovation receives €3 million funding from the French government and Bpifrance to speed up its development

Standing Ovation, a key player in the food transition, specializing in the production of non-animal caseins by precision fermentation, has announced funding of €2 million granted by the French government for its 'CASPEX' project as part of the 'Agri-food Resilience and Capacity' call for projects under the France 2030 Investment Plan operated by Bpifrance, as well as a €1 million loan from Bpifrance called the Invest EU Green Investment Loan.

A FrenchTech 2030 award winner, Standing Ovation aims to help food manufacturers move towards more sustainable production and puts the circular economy at the heart of its industrial development. The company's ambition is to become a key player in the food transition by developing alternative proteins produced by precision fermentation, and thus meet the challenges of food sovereignty.

The aim of the CASPEX project is to develop a purification line of proteins (caseins) obtained by precision fermentation, enabling the first industrial production of ingredients for dairy products. This is a key stage in the industrialization of the process needed to market these highly nutritious and functional ingredients. The French government, via France 2030, is supporting the project with funding of €2 million over 20 months, 60% of which will be in the form of a grant. This project is fully in line with the objectives set by the France 2030 plan and its commitment to innovation for healthy, sustainable and traceable food.

Purification is a key step in Standing Ovation's fermentative casein production process. This purification module will improve process productivity, maximizing the use of upstream production tools, and thus reducing equipment and team downtime. The result will be faster production and lower associated costs. This project, which prefigures a production unit, also secures the company's technological lead.

The company has developed a patented process for producing non-animal caseins by precision fermentation. Caseins are the main proteins in milk, and their production by fermentation is a major challenge in the field of alternative proteins. Indeed, fermentative caseins, which are identical to their animal analogues, are the royal road to creating true replicas of dairy products, while retaining their nutritional and taste aspects with less environmental impact. By bringing its process to industrial scale, the French start-up is positioning itself as a key player in the field of precision fermentation.

"Standing Ovation's innovative approach enables us to contribute to the food transition while significantly reducing the environmental impact of the dairy ingredients industry," commented Romain Chayot, CEO & Co-founder of Standing Ovation. "Bpifrance's strong support is helping us to drive the industrial deployment of the unique process developed by Standing Ovation, an important step before the upcoming commercialization of our ingredients. This financing also marks the commitment of public authorities to preparing the food of the future and ensuring food sovereignty."