MycoWorks

MycoWorks is a manufacturer of alternative leather using mushroom-based fungi. Its proprietary brand, Reishi, is manufactured using a patented process called “Fine Mycelium”, which uses fungi’s capacity to bind to itself and carbon-based materials in producing durable three-dimensional material. The benefits of Reishi, according to MycoWorks, include its tensile strength (the force needed to pull material to its breaking point) at 10 Megapascals (MPa), compared to the average cowhide tensile strength of 8.5 MPa. Reishi is also customizable (in terms of sizing and specifications) allowing growing direct-to-design products that eliminate waste from cutting and trimming.

Mycoworks operates three Reishi plants as of January 2022. The third plant in California has an annual production capacity of 80,000 sq ft of material per year, increased the company’s production tenfold, and reportedly reached a milestone of producing 10,000 trays of Fine Mycelium after a year of operation. The company is also building a new USD 107 million worth manufacturing facility in Union, South Carolina, with operations expected to commence in 2023. The new facility reportedly is expected to produce several million sq ft of Fine Mycelium per year. In August 2023, the company announced opening a 136,000 square foot plant  which will produce Reishi that has been embraced by luxury brands like Hermès and Ligne Roset for various applications and was expected to begin operation on September 20, 2023.

Reishi remains in the prototype development and testing phase. The company announced that the material is currently being tested in clothing, shoe, wallet, and handbag design.

Key customers and partnerships

The company indicated in November 2020 that the first luxury fashion and footwear products containing Reishi will be launched in partnership with leading fashion and footwear brands in the coming months. MycoWorks also partnered with Hermès, the French luxury goods manufacturer, in March 2021 to use a material named “Sylvania”(a Fine Mycelium-based material developed by the two companies over three years) in a sustainable version of Hermès’s “Victoria” travel bag, by the end of 2021. In November 2023, the company partnered with YUME YUME for interactive Reishi-based installation at Stedelijk Museum.

Funding and financials

In January 2022, MycoWorks raised USD 125 million in a Series C funding round led by Prime Movers Lab. The funding was expected to accelerate commercial production of Reishi and support in R&D, technology development, and hiring new employees.