Home » AFYREN adds new hires to support growth in France and expansion abroad

AFYREN adds new hires to support growth in France and expansion abroad

10 January 2023

Press release

Clermont-Ferrand/Lyon, January 10, 2023, 7h45 CET – AFYREN, a greentech company that offers manufacturers low-carbon, bio-based products through its unique fermentation technology based on a completely circular model, announced the appointment of three new members to its management team as well as new hires to support its development in France and abroad and to step up its R&D activities.

Three strategic appointments

Ursula Feulner – Director for Industrial Project Management
Ursula joins AFYREN’s operations team and will lead the upstream phases of industrial projects, including the construction of new plants. AFYREN benefits from her long experience with the SUEZ Group, where she had various roles closely related to the management of industrial projects in Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia, and worked in risk management for a number of strategic projects.

Léa Bassegoda – Human Resources Director
Lea joins AFYREN to supervise the expansion of its teams. After several years in France and the United States with LVMH and then Danone, she will use her skills and solid experience to build a global Human Resources policy within the group and to structure the organization in line with the company’s culture and strong values.

Christophe Dardel – Strategic Partnerships Director
Christophe has come onboard to identify and lay the groundwork for future international factory projects and related strategic partnerships. He has long and solid international experience acquired at several companies, and in particular with Royal DSM for more than 15 years. As a former member of the Executive Committee, Christophe was in charge of the development of the DSM Dyneema unit, which experienced strong organic growth through the establishment of several factories and key partnerships around the world.

An active recruitment policy in support of industrial expansion and a reinforced R&D strategy

In 2022, more than 10 new employees, with complementary profiles and skills, joined AFYREN to support the company’s industrial development in France and abroad.

The new hires, notably for the R&D team, reflect AFYREN’s desire to continuously develop and optimize the best sustainable solutions for its customers and partners.

New employees are also being recruited in engineering and project management to support the existing operational teams and to prepare for AFYREN’s international expansion, including the design of future plants. Employees are also being added to the regulatory, administrative and financial teams to ensure compliance and the operational quality of AFYREN’s products and processes.

The AFYREN group now has more than 100 employees, 60 of whom work at the AFYREN NEOXY factory in Carling Saint-Avold in the Grand Est region of France, with nearly 45 at the Lyon and Clermont-Ferrand sites, half of whom are entirely dedicated to Research & Development activities.