Why MYCL’s mushroom mycelium could be the basis of your next bag – or house

In just seven years, Mycotech Lab (MYCL) has gained significant traction attracting the attention of partners across a range of sectors.  

Since 2016, the company has been developing a renewable material made with mycelium, the root-like fungi that support mushroom growth. These are now in demand as the basis for a range of high-quality products, from clothing, handbags and other fashion items to building panels for construction and more.

Until a few years ago, MYCL’s chief executive officer, Adi Reza Nugroho, a trained architect, never dreamed of working with mushrooms.

His decision to switch tracks stemmed from a lightbulb moment he had one day as he took a walk in the countryside and observed the way farmers were using agricultural waste to build houses. Inspired, he started exploring ways to advance innovation with other sustainable and affordable building materials.  

Thanks to inputs from his co-founder’s family business growing mushrooms, Reza was already aware of the strength and durability of the mycelium networks that nurture mushrooms. These take the form of thread-like fibres that seek to bind themselves around substrate materials in a dense net.    

“I was inspired by the way tempeh is produced,” says Reza. This traditional Indonesian foodstuff is made by binding fermented soybeans into compact blocks with the help of mycelium fibres. 

How tempeh is made. While soybeans ferment, thousands of white strands of mycelium strands bind the individual beans together creating a naturally strong and rigid material. 

“I joined forces with a biotech engineer friend, and we started exploring different ways to turn mycelium into robust binding materials. Together, we co-founded the company.” 

Today, MYCL cultivates mycelium on a range of substrates. This includes agricultural waste such as plant clippings that they obtain from farmers in Bandung, Indonesia, where the startup is based. Then, using cutting-edge bioengineering techniques, MYCL transforms the mycelium-wrapped substrates into different composites. For example, it presses them into sheets to create a sustainable, leather-like material it has named Mylea.  

The team integrates rapid prototyping – an approach more typically used by digital tech startups – into their production lifecycle, to create a scaled model of any potential product to be tested in real-life situations. MYCL is also collaborating with commercial partners to develop new products. “We try to involve customers from day one,” says Reza, emphasising the need to involve commercial partners early on when developing new products.

A sheet of Mylea. The team uses non-toxic post-treatment methods that helps maintain the flexibility, abrasion resistance and colour of the material.

By integrating automation into its production process, MYCL can produce Mylea 50 per cent faster than other organisations can generate similar products.  

“We have also developed proprietary growing methods to minimise the risk of fungal contamination, a natural hazard of cultivating mycelium in a tropical climate. This is helping us ensure we can produce our biomaterials to scale,” Reza explains.

MYCL has worked with research hubs, such as the Singapore-ETH Centre in 2016, to develop new versions of its biomaterials and so expand the application of its approach. 

One innovation that emerged from the collaboration is a mycelium-based composite fireboard known as Biobo. The building material’s mycelium composite has been patented by the company and can be used to help reduce reliance on fossil fuel-based products in the construction industry.

MYCL exhibition piece, MycoTree, at the Seoul Biennale for Architecture and Urbanism in 2017. The geometrically rigid structure was made with load-bearing mycelium components. 

The novel biomaterial is striking a chord among brands and consumers keen to invest in alternative materials that are better for our planet.  

“Not only are mycelium-based products made from recycled waste, they also degrade naturally after their intended product cycle. That means they can be helpful in creating a circular economy. People who buy our fashion items made from mycelium leather can be reassured they are helping to save the environment – from their closet!” Reza points out. 

For the conscious consumer, the biomaterial has an added ethical appeal – no animals are harmed in its making. Compared to traditional leather making which depends on waiting three to four years before the cows are slaughtered for their pelts and processed for tanning, Mylea takes seven days to produce.  

(Left) MYCL’s Chief of Business Development Ronaldiaz Hartantyo and (Right) Chief Executive Officer Adi Reza Nugroho with a showcase of Mylea including a watch, bag and shoes made with the “mushroom leather”.  

“Compared to the life cycle analysis of traditional bovine leather tannery production, our approach can reduce carbon emissions by 67 per cent, water consumption by 70 per cent and energy consumption by 17 per cent,” says Reza. “That’s why we think it has huge potential.” 

Already, MYCL’s products are starting to make waves. In June 2021, MYCL worked with the Japanese street wear Doublet, providing Mylea for a runway collection showcased at the spring/summer Paris Fashion Week. The brand also used Mylea in its autumn/winter 2022–23 collection.   

Meanwhile, the company has also created innovative mycelium tiles for use as internal wall cladding in an experimental housing project set on the Indonesian island of Batam. “We’re very proud that our product was chosen as part of a government-supported initiative exploring how to build sustainable, affordable housing for low-income inhabitants in developing countries,” Reza says. 
 

Workers in Batam putting up one of the modular panels made from Biobo tiles to test its durability. The panel can be easily removed to make space for future extensions to the building. 

While it is still relatively early days for MYCL, Reza is optimistic about next steps. The company recently raised US$1.2 million in pre-Series A funding, with investors including AgFunder, Temasek Lifesciences Accelerator, Fashion for Good, Third Derivative, Lifely VC, and Rumah Group.  

That funding will be used to scale up Mylea production to meet current demand from MYCL’s fashion brand partners. It will also be used to strengthen the company’s presence in Singapore, taking advantage of the nation’s supportive Deep Tech ecosystem to help it further accelerate innovation.  

“One challenge we have is making sure we have a consistent product we can deliver to customers at scale,” says Reza. “At the moment, we can only produce 2,000 square feet of mycelium per year. But big brands like the sneaker company we are working with need about 3,300 square feet per day. So we’re now working make sure we have the capacity to manage that.” 

The team is already finding ways to increase the growth rate of the mycelium to meet demand. Through analysing the metabolomics – the biochemical activity and state of cells – of fungi, they’re able to optimise the source of nutrients at a molecular level ultimately resulting in faster production of mycelium.  

If MYCL can scale its business successfully, the potential is enormous. According to Infinium Global Research, the global ‘vegan leather’ market is set to hit US$89.6 billion by 2025. However, this represents only a fraction of the global leather goods market. Market analysis by Grandview Research found it was worth US$407.9 billion in 2021. This is predicted to grow to US$743.5 billion by 2030, with Asia-Pacific the fastest growing market.  

“Right now, we’re only focusing on fashion,” says Reza. “But our second-largest market for leather is the automotive industry. With the rise of electric vehicles, many automotive companies are trying to source more responsible materials for use in vehicle interiors. We’re already talking to several automotive companies and we have plans to tap into this market within the next five years.”  

Despite their growing international expansion, the company has remained rooted to their cause as a social enterprise. They work with more than 200 mushroom farmers in West Java, providing them with a way of generating additional income by purchasing their agricultural waste to use as raw substrate materials.  

When he was a student, Reza was a self-admitted social enterprise sceptic. As he puts it, “I asked myself: can such an approach really align with business objectives? But now that I’ve embarked on a social enterprise journey myself, all that’s changed.” 

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