ABOUT ECOVATIVE

• US-based Ecovative is a Mycelium technology company founded in 2007 by Eben Bayer and Gavin McIntyre. Its innovative mycelium materials are applicable to three sectors of industry: packaging, textiles and food.
• Operating from New York, US, Ecovative employs over 70 people. It currently holds over 40 patents for its mycelium-based technologies and materials, and in 2021 completed a Series D funding round, securing USD 60 million. This will be used to develop new applications for its mycelium technologies alongside scaling existing solutions. It has also secured an additional USD 9.1 million contract with the US Department of Defense.
• Ecovative offers two distinct technologies. MycoComposite is used to create the brand’s patented Mushroom Packaging, as well as building materials. In the years leading up to 2020, it grew over 2500 tonnes of mycelium packaging products. AirMycelium is a bio-based material used to replace traditional materials such as Leather and plastic in fashion. It’s also used as a substitute for meat.
• The company claims that its technologies can achieve cost parity and match performance to the product they are replacing when used at commercial scale.
• The exact composition of the individual mycelium materials is dependent on its final application, but mycelium is a wondrously versatile material with many key properties. It can be edible, flexible, light, strong, fire-resistant, water-repellent and biodegradable.
• The most familiar application of Ecovative’s technology is its packaging solutions. Mushroom Packaging is available globally through licensed partners in the US, EU and Oceania, and is designed to be an alternative to Styrofoam, produced from Hemp hurd and mycelium. It’s home compostable within 45 days and non-toxic to the environment.
• Commercial brands using Mushroom Packaging include Ffern, Seedlip, Loli and Wildsmith Skin. A high-profile collaboration with IKEA in 2020 has the potential to see the global home retailer replace its Styrofoam with Mushroom Packaging.
• Ecovative’s upcoming launch, Forager Hides, is a synthetic-free, vegan leather alternative for the apparel, footwear and automotive industries. Debuting at Lineapelle Milan 2022-23, the pure leather hide is made from 100% mushroom mycelium, with no plastics, blends or fillers. The final retail version is 96% bio-based and still has a fossil-fuel component due to the dyeing and tanning process. It can be grown up to 27 metres in length and two metres in width in nine days. Thanks to a vertical farming design, the first farm is capable of producing three million square feet of leather-like material annually on only one acre of land, allowing for scalability. It will be commercially available in 2023. Key partners include PVH Corp and Bestseller.
• The company has also begun investigating mycelium as an alt-food source. Ecovative spin-off, MyForest Foods, produces gourmet mycelia for whole-food, meat-free ingredients. Its first retail product, MyBacon, is currently available through the NY Food Co-op Honest Weight. Prototype mycelium foodstuffs are also being trialled at Ecovative’s exclusive Feast of the Future events.
• Ecovative’s mycelium products are Cradle to Cradle Gold certified. Following their useful life, they are 100% compostable and Ecovative claim they improve soil quality. The company has won numerous awards, including a DuPont award for Packaging Innovation, an EPA Environmental Quality Award and a World Economic Tech Pioneer Award.