Mushroom Material

Governments around the world are banning the use of non recyclable materials, specifically targeting expanded polystyrene packaging. Companies are being forced to find alternative material solutions or will be fined and in some cases banned from shipping their products. In addition to this there is a strong social push to move towards sustainable and eco friendly materials.

We have developed a mushroom based packaging material that has the same protective properties as polystyrene but naturally degrades within months. It is customisable to any shape, size, density, hardness and surface finish of the product. It has a limitless sustainable supply and is also fire resistant and waterproof. We can match the mechanical properties of polystyrene and replace any existing parts with a sustainable mushroom equivalent. 

We are removing non-recyclable/compostable/degradable materials from waste streams that inevitably entering our environments and pollute our eco systems by giving a second life to agricultural waste.

Governments around the world are banning the use of non recyclable materials, specifically targeting expanded polystyrene/ styrofoam packaging. Companies are being forced to find alternative material solutions or will be fined and in some cases banned from shipping their products. In addition to this there is a strong social push to move towards sustainable and eco friendly materials.

We have developed a mushroom based packaging material that has the same protective properties as polystyrene but naturally degrades within months. It is customisable to any shape, size, density, hardness and surface finish of the product. It has a limitless sustainable supply and is also fire resistant and waterproof. We can match the mechanical properties of polystyrene and replace any existing parts with a sustainable mushroom equivalent. 

Our material is created using a mixture of mycelium, which is the root structure of mushrooms, with agricultural waste (eg straw/ hemp/ wood chips/cardboard etc). This acts as a natural adhesive and bonds the material together. We are automating the manufacturing process which means we can produce at a much higher volume and much lower price point than any competitors.

Polystyrene/ Styrofoam dominates the protective packaging industry and it is destroying our environment. We currently produce enough of it to cover an entire football field every 10 minutes which accounts for 30% of all landfill and 90% of marine debris around the world. The problem with polystyrene is that it takes over 500 years to decompose, so the packaging you throw out today will still be in landfill in the year 2521 affecting the next 17 generations. Over time, this debris breaks down into micro plastics polluting our ecosystems, contaminating our waterways and eventually ending up in the food we eat and the water we drink.

We're not saying our material will solve the worlds plastic problem but it certainly is a step in the right direction. So to answer your question of who will it impact? In principle, every living creature. We are all affected by microplastics and this is only getting worse, Mushroom Material is trying to stop that problem. Specifically our solution will impact 3rd world countries who see the worst of the packaging disaster caused by the materialistic 1st word societies who have polystyrene washing up on the beaches, in their rivers and eventually in their food.

We provide additional income streams to local farmers by using local agricultural waste as our main input for the production of our material. We also provide jobs in the form of production technicians in the countries we are manufacturing. All whilst removing waste from their area.

We have secured initial pre-seed funding based on the prototypes we have already created. We are now building our first pilot line as proof of automation. We are in talks with a few larger companies to trial pilots from Amazon to Stanley Black and Decker to Whirlpool. We are also working closely with a few cosmetics brands to ensure we are developing the correct protective properties for their application. 

We constantly receive requests for samples and have had to decline orders for hundreds of units because we are currently upgrading our entire production facility to create the pilot automation line. We will be up and running by the end of the year.

We are developing an automated manufacturing solution meaning that we can produce at a much higher volume and much lower price point than our competitors. We are also first to market in South East Asia and Oceania.

Current = 0

1 year = 10,000

5 years = 100,000,000

Units produced per week and yield of each production cycle. 

3 full time

Shaun - CEO - mechanical engineer - previous startup founder with a strong product background. He spent the last 7 years designing and developing consumer products across a range of industries including the production of 500,000 washing machines with Fisher and Paykel appliances (owned by Haier) and the development of the Zozo Suit (owned by Start Today - the CEO is the person who purchased all the seats on Elon Musk's rocket ship trip around the moon https://dearmoon.earth/). He was most recently the product manager for New Zealand's fastest growing tech startup, StretchSense Limited. 

Jotinder - technical - mechatronics engineer - our technical expert with 7 years' experience in automation,  scaling, testing, quality control of mass manufacturing plants. He was head of quality control for New Zealand's fastest growing start up (StretchSense Limited) and was responsible for growing the production capacity from 10 units per week to 1000 units per week by automating the production line.

In addition to the core engineer team, we have partnered with the leading Mycology Research team in New Zealand to help us develop our own unique strains of fast growing mycelium to give us even more control over the properties of the end packaging material eg density, weight, resistance to deformation, hardness, colour

I've assembled the team on ability. That's the only thing that matters in engineering. I asked 3 questions, 

1. is this person competent?

2. do I trust this person?

3. is this person going to add to the workplace culture?

Unfortunately getting a good male/ female ratio is challenging since there aren't too many female engineers around. I do hope that our next hire will be female but obviously only if they tick the first 3 points.  

Amanda from MIT Solve reached out and suggested that we apply. Being associate with MIT would really jump start our company. As an engineering student it was my dream to do a postgrad with MIT but I ended up going the start up route so this would be the best of both worlds! The network that comes with MIT is unparalleled and while yes money is always something we need, the network is real real prize here. 

Legal and PR - because we have non of that experience in the team and they're both going to be important points in the next 12 months or so.

Monitoring - we do have experience in this but we could always use help

Distribution - the wider our network the better. 

R&D teams at MIT who would be interested in helping us with the development of the automated manufacturing lines. 

We are preventing the use of fossil fuels for packaging materials but using biomaterials and waste instead. This is true global circular economy where we are putting the raw materials back into the environment in an easy to degrade fashion.