In order to produce sophorolipids from whey, thereby lowering the lactose content and biological oxygen demand, a two-step batch cultivation process was developed including medium sterilization by filtration. In the first step, whey was sterilized by a combination of crossflow and sterile filtration. Because the sophorolipid-producing yeast Candida bombicola ATCC 22214 was not able to use lactose as a carbon source directly, the oleaginous yeast Cryptococcus curvatus ATCC 20509 was grown on deproteinized whey concentrates (DWC). With 1: 1 diluted DWC-20, lactose was consumed as the carbon source and biomass (24 g/l dry weight content) as well as single-cell oil (SCO, 10 g/l) were produced. The cultivation broth was disrupted with a glass bead mill and it served as medium for growth (29 g cell dry mass/l) and sophorolipid production (12 g/l) of the yeast C. bombicola.