Selected
Climate: Ecosystems + Housing

MycoTile Insulation Panels

Wall and roof insulation panels made of agricultural waste (sugar bagasse, coffee husks, and corn cobs), bonded organically with oyster mushroom mycelium.

Team Leader
Mtamu Kililo
Wall and roof insulation panel made of agriculture waste (Sugar Bagasse, coffee husks and corn cobs) bonded organically with Oyster and Ganoderma mushroom mycelium.

Solution Pitch

The Problem

Kenya has an annual housing demand of 250,000 units with an estimated supply of just 50,000, leaving an 80% deficit. Hundreds of thousands live in informal housing to cover this deficit.

The Solution

MycoTile offers a high performance and cheaper alternative to traditional building materials. A carbon negative process is used to bond agricultural waste (such as maize cobs, coffee husks, coconut coir and rice husks) with mushroom mycelium to create a building material composite. The pilot product is wall and roof insulation, which have superior acoustic performance and fire-retardant properties compared to the available alternatives. The fire-retardancy is naturally enhanced by the chitin present in mycelium. MycoTile intends to prototype a larger portfolio of products, such as ceiling tiles, construction blocks, MDF-style panels and furniture. An important growth step was the conclusion of a co-manufacturing contract with a Kenya government entity. MycoTile is establishing partnerships with small scale farmers, who are compensated for providing agricultural waste, to assure security of raw material supply.

Stats

  • There are currently 28 contracted farmers and locals who package agricultural waste for MycoTiles and six non-contracted suppliers of agricultural waste. 

  • Since the product has not been installed on a large scale, the benefits of the product in housing are yet to be documented.

  • One metric ton of waste has been reduced through reduction, recycling, and reuse so far, with the aim of upcycling hundreds of tons of agri-waste once production is rolled out. 

Market Opportunity

Our pilot market is retrofitting informal settlements with thin-walled housing. Nairobi houses 2.5 million in these informal settlements with an assumed 10SQM of walling per person. This is a $150 million market in Nairobi alone. This does not include offices and roof insulation.

Organization Highlights

  • Partnered with the Kenya Government through Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute (KIRDI) for consultancy services in mycology and space and facility for co-manufacturing.

  • Implementing partners of Challenge Fund for Youth Employment through Habitat for Humanity Kenya and Netherlands.

Partnership Goals

MycoTile Panels seeks:

  • Expertise on product management / review of a product roadmap

  • Expertise on accounting and financial reporting

  • Technological expertise in testing products for fire, heat, acoustics and life cycle analysis to prepare a standard and specification sheet

  • Financial partnership that will help grow out of government partnership and build internal production set-up

What is the name of your organization?
MycoTile Limited
What is the name of your solution?
MycoTile Insulation Panels
Provide a one-line summary or tagline for your solution.
Wall and roof insulation panel made of agriculture waste (Sugar Bagasse, coffee husks and corn cobs) bonded organically with Oyster and Ganoderma mushroom mycelium.
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Nairobi
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
Kenya
What type of organization is your solution team?
For-Profit
Film your elevator pitch.
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What specific problem are you solving?
Kenya has an annual housing demand of 250,000 units with an estimated supply of just 50,000, leaving an 80% deficit. Hundreds of thousands live in informal housing to cover this deficit.
What is your solution?
MycoTile offers a high performance and cheaper alternative to traditional building materials. A carbon negative process is used to bond agricultural waste (such as maize cobs, coffee husks, coconut coir and rice husks) with mushroom mycelium to create a building material composite. The pilot product is wall and roof insulation, which have superior acoustic performance and fire-retardant properties compared to the available alternatives. The fire-retardancy is naturally enhanced by the chitin present in mycelium. MycoTile intends to prototype a larger portfolio of products, such as ceiling tiles, construction blocks, MDF-style panels and furniture. An important growth step was the conclusion of a co-manufacturing contract with a Kenya government entity. MycoTile is establishing partnerships with small scale farmers, who are compensated for providing agricultural waste, to assure security of raw material supply.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
Our insulation panels, though can be used in commercial projects, target thin walled structures, especially those done in tin metal sheets that house urban population but with inhabitable indoor climates. Our affordable and inert insulation will help regulate the indoor temperatures of these homes and encourage more builds to meet the housing deficient. We are also adding income to small scale farmers who sell their waste to us that would otherwise be left to rot. With our continued research, our revolutionary building block will be solving the mountains of sugar bagasse found in large scale in sugar milling factories in western Kenya where they have become a challenge to the factory and the environment of the surrounding community at large.

Organization Type: For-profit, including B-Corp or similar models

Headquarters: Nairobi, Kenya

Stage: Pilot

Working In: Kenya

Current Employees: 12

Solution Website: https://mycotile.co/

Solution Team:
Mtamu Kililo
Mtamu Kililo
CEO