Bon Vivant eyes cow-free dairy protein scale-up after elevating $15.9m

Lyon-based Bon Vivant has obtained funding of €15m/$15.9m by European capital enterprise agency Sofinnova Companions, next-gen investor Sparkfood and French regional fund Captech Santé Diet.

The corporate produces whey and casein from modified yeast. The proteins are stated to be molecularly-identical to these present in cow’s milk and nutritionally superior to plant-based alternate options.

This financing spherical will allow Bon Vivant to spend money on its new laboratory with the intention to scale up the manufacturing of food-grade samples. The funding would additionally permit the agency to give attention to accelerating its path to regulatory approval within the US, a market the corporate is planning to enter in 2025.

Bon Vivant claims its precision fermentation-derived milk proteins are considerably much less energy-intensive in comparison with conventional dairy. The corporate commissioned a lifecycle evaluation carried out by Lorie Hamelin from INRAE Toulouse, which confirmed that the agency’s course of reduces GHG emissions by 97%; water consumption – by 99%; and vitality utilization by 50% in comparison with conventional farming practices.

Stéphane MacMillan, CEO and founding father of Bon Vivant, stated: “We’re very pleased with this new stage within the growth of Bon Vivant, which permits us to welcome main buyers from the biotechnology and agri-food industries to our capital. This spherical of financing confirms the rising demand for precision fermentation as an answer to the great challenges the agri-food trade, notably the dairy trade, is dealing with. The purpose is threefold: to extend the variety of developments with our clients, to provide on an industrial scale and to arrange for commercialization by 2025. It must also allow us to develop because the French world chief.”