Testimonial

Nutropy: fermented caseins for sustainable nutrition

Imagine a near future where cheeses are produced with the same nutritive and gustatory qualities they have today but without the need for livestock farming? That's the mindset of Nutropy, a start-up breaking new ground in the development of dairy proteins from precision fermentation.

With its technology, Nutropy produces caseins identical to those in diary but without the need for animals. Their disruptive technology responds to the food & agriculture sector's search for solutions in sustainability.

"Our objective is to provide ingredients that address environmental and food sovereignty issues while also meeting consumer expectations," explains Nutropy Cofounder and CEO Nathalie Rolland. By removing livestock farming from the production chain, the start-up is reducing the carbon footprint of and the resources mobilized for cheese production.

The objective is to provide ingredients that address environmental and food sovereignty issues while also meeting consumer expectations.

The company's daring vision was honored in 2023 by the Grand Prize of the i-Lab competition organized by Bpifrance to distinguish high-potential technological innovations. That strategic recognition was echoed in 2024 by the company's integration in the French Women Entrepreneurs 40 (FWE40) program, which honors high-growth start-ups headed by women. "These distinctions reinforce our credibility in the eyes of investors and industrials, and open precious opportunities for partnerships," underlines Nathalie Rolland.

Incubated by Genopole since 2020, first in the Shaker then in Gene.iO, Nutropy has successfully structured its development steps. Today, the company employs about 15 people in its laboratories located at the Genopole Enterprises incubator (Essonne CCI).

Nutropy's next step is industrialization. To make the change from laboratory to large-scale production, the company is calling upon the recently inaugurated GATE^X platform. "These structures let us test our processes in preindustrial-size fermentors without needing to mobilize funds that would be onerous at this stage. They are essential levers for our scale-up." In parallel, the company's team is navigating the waters of international regulations with the objective of launching its first products in 2026 in Europe and North America.

In a fermented caseins market currently lacking many competitors, Nutropy is advancing with methodology and ambition. The innovation is there and the technology ready. There remains the need to pass the upscaling step, a sine qua non for bringing their innovative alternative to tomorrow's dinner plates.