Verley, a Lyon-based food and nutrition ingredient company developing high-performance whey proteins through precision fermentation, has secured an oversubscribed €32 million Series A round, including non-dilutive funding, four years after its founding. The round was led by Alven, with participation from existing investors Sofinnova and Sparkfood, alongside additional non-dilutive support from BPI France.
The funding comes amid accelerating global demand for protein. After reaching $31.8 billion in 2025, the global protein market is expected to continue hitting record levels in 2026. High-protein nutrition has become mainstream across product categories, driven by demographic growth, evolving dietary habits, and the rapid uptake of GLP-1 treatments, with 1 in 8 adults in the U.S. reported to be taking a GLP-1 drug in 2025. At the same time, conventional whey protein production faces structural constraints, limiting its ability to scale while reducing environmental impact.
Verley aims to address this widening supply gap by developing functional whey protein ingredients that deliver the nutritional and functional performance required by food and nutrition manufacturers, while using a fraction of the natural resources associated with conventional production. The company focuses exclusively on B2B ingredient solutions, supporting manufacturers developing high-protein, clean-label, and digestible products across multiple applications.
Its FermWhey™ portfolio consists of functionalized whey proteins engineered for performance in real-world formulations, offering high purity, advanced solubility, emulsification, gelling properties, and optimized nutritional profiles. Verley has designed its approach to integrate seamlessly into existing food value chains, aligning with industrial and market requirements.
Since its inception, Verley has advanced from technological validation to industrial readiness. In 2024, the company secured self-affirmed GRAS status, followed by an FDA “No Questions” letter in 2025, validating the safety of its products for the U.S. market. It has also built an intellectual property portfolio spanning fermentation processes and proprietary protein functionalization technologies. Rather than simply replicating dairy proteins, Verley’s technologies aim to enhance performance and expand formulation possibilities for manufacturers.
The company says this combination of regulatory clearance, intellectual property depth, scalability, and commercial traction remains uncommon at its stage. Demand for its ingredients already exceeds current production capacity, signaling strong product-market fit.
Proceeds from the Series A will primarily support Verley’s U.S. market entry, including commercial deployment and early customer scale-up, as well as expanded production capacity. The company will continue investing in research and development to enhance performance, efficiency, and sustainability. Following its U.S. launch, Europe and the Middle East are priority regions for expansion.
Verley positions itself as part of Europe’s growing FoodTech ecosystem, aiming to strengthen food sovereignty in a market increasingly exposed to supply constraints and geopolitical uncertainty by building scalable protein production capabilities.
KEY QUOTES
“Verley’s mission is to address the growing global demand for high-quality nutrition while preserving the planet’s natural resources. Verley is now ready to help alleviate the pressure the dairy industry is facing. We are very proud to be building a European champion leveraging decades of know-how in the dairy industry.”
Stéphane Mac Millan, CEO And Co-Founder Of Verley
“This financing allows us to scale not only our production, but the performance promise behind our ingredients. Our functionalization technologies are designed to meet real industrial constraints and application needs. That focus on performance is what makes precision fermentation relevant and viable at scale.”
Hélène Briand, Co-Founder And Chief Innovation & Commercial Officer Of Verley
