In South Carolina, MycoWorks, a leading producer of mycelium materials, has reached a key production milestone and begun its first commercial shipments. The company says it has successfully harvested over 1,000 sheets of Fine Mycelium™ material at its Union, SC facility. It will harvest over additional 10,000 trays in the coming weeks.
The first revenue-generating shipments have also left the South Carolina facility for Europe, where partner tanneries will transform the mycelium sheets into Reishi™–a fully grown, customizable, and low-carbon biomaterial with the strength, hand feel, and durability of the world’s finest natural leathers.
“Fine Mycelium™ grown at MycoWorks South Carolina has already exceeded the quality standards of typical sheets grown at the company’s California pilot plant due to the implementation of years of quality and scale-up learnings from the pilot,” MycoWorks said in a press statement. “Focused on attaining the highest performance and aesthetic qualities in Fine Mycelium™, MycoWorks has developed a new savoir-faire–craft–for making mycelium materials, and has also now successfully scaled it up by adding key elements of automation: a first for biomaterials.”
Early investors in MycoWorks included Natalie Portman, John Legend, and several major fashion brands.