# Danone

Danone is a Corporate Investor based in Paris, France.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Corporate Investor
- **Headquarters:** Paris, France
- **Region:** Europe
- **Address:** 17 Boulevard Haussmann, 9th Arrondissement, Paris, France
- **Founded:** 1919
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** danone.com
- **LinkedIn:** https://fr.linkedin.com/company/danone
- **Wikidata:** Q329426

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

Danone, a world leading food and beverage company, present in over 120 countries and with the essential business lines such as Waters and Early Life Nutrition.

## Sectors

- AgriTech & FoodTech
- Digital Health
- ClimateTech

## Offices

- Hoofddorp, Netherlands
- Bucharest, Romania
- São Paulo, Brazil

## People

- Franck Riboud — Honorary Chairman
- Antoine de Saint-Affrique — CEO
- Laurent Marcel — CEO, Danone Manifesto Ventures

## Questions

### Who runs Danone Manifesto Ventures?

Laurent Marcel serves as CEO of Danone Manifesto Ventures, overseeing deal sourcing, portfolio management, and exits. Marcel operates with a dedicated investment team separate from Danone's corporate development and M&A functions, reporting to the parent company's chief financial and strategy officers. Franck Riboud, as Honorary Chairman, played a formative role in establishing the venture arm but is not involved in day-to-day investment decisions.

### Does Danone invest only in food companies?

While food and beverage startups dominate the portfolio, Danone Manifesto Ventures also invests in digital-health and agri-tech companies that extend Danone's nutrition mission into adjacent categories. The fund has backed companies working on microbiome science, personalized nutrition platforms, and regenerative-agriculture technologies. Pure enterprise software or fintech plays fall outside its mandate unless they directly enable healthier food systems.

### What is Danone's known posture on follow-on investments and full acquisitions?

DMV reserves capital for follow-on rounds in portfolio companies that demonstrate product-market fit within Danone's strategic categories. In several cases — including Michel et Augustin — the parent company has moved from a minority venture stake to full acquisition over multiple years. This pathway from venture investment to eventual absorption into the Danone operating portfolio is an explicit feature of DMV's mandate, though the fund does not require portfolio companies to accept acquisition offers.

### Which regions does Danone target for venture investment?

DMV concentrates on Western Europe, the United States, and China — regions that align with Danone's largest consumer markets for dairy, plant-based products, and specialized nutrition. The fund has deployed capital across France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and California, with selective exposure in Southeast Asia through co-investments alongside local partners. It does not actively source direct deals in Latin America or Africa through DMV, though Danone's Livelihoods Funds maintain a carbon-finance presence in those regions.

### How does Danone's venture arm differ from other corporate food VCs?

Danone Manifesto Ventures holds B Corp certification — the first corporate venture fund to achieve it — and co-invests alongside Mousse Partners, the Chanel family office, creating a dealflow structure that blends corporate strategic capital with family-office club dynamics. Unlike peer corporate VCs that primarily syndicate with other corporates or traditional VCs, DMV's co-investor relationships and stand-alone certification create a sourcing and governance model that operates closer to an impact-oriented family office than a conventional strategic corporate venturing unit.

## Related profiles

- [Danish International Development Agency](https://altss.com/profile/danish-international-development-agency)
- [Danske Bank International Private Banking](https://altss.com/profile/danske-bank-international-private-banking)

---

Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z

Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/danone

Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology