Mycotech Lab CEO and Co-Founder Adi Reza Nugroho
Indonesia-based biotechnology company Mycotech Lab has announced the completion of US$1.2 million in pre-Series A funding.
The investors are AgFunder, Temasek Lifesciences Accelerator, Fashion for Good, Third Derivative, Lifely VC, and Rumah Group.
The capital will be used to build and scale up the production of Mycotech’s Mylea material from its Bandung operation and meet the existing demand from fashion brand partners.
It will also the use the money to develop its research facilities by opening a research laboratory in Japan and Singapore in September 2022.
Mycotech develops a new scientific process to grow mushroom mycelium-based products. It uses mushroom mycelium, the vegetative part of mushrooms, as a natural adhesive. It employs mycelium as a binding agent to create biomaterial composite (Biobo) and cultivate it to create strong, leather-like material (Mylea).
CEO Adi Reza Nugroho co-founded Mycotech with the mission to create the highest quality materials made from mycelium that meet the highest standard of the biotech industry. He also wants to make a real impact by reducing the use of animals in the fashion industry and delivering sustainable material that meets the uncompromising standards of the fashion industry.
Mycotech has shipped Mylea material samples to 16 countries following its original Kickstarter campaign. In collaboration with LVMH prize-winning designer Masayuki Ino from Japan, its products were showcased at Paris Fashion Week S/S 2021 and F/W 2022.
In March and April 2022, Mycotech brought one collaboration product with Hijack Sandals in Indonesia to the overseas market to launch the first mycelium leather sandals called “Mimic Mylea” exclusively in Japan. The launch marks its first step to start penetrating the East Asian market.
Currently, Mycotech operates a production facility with a capacity of 10,000 sq ft per year in Indonesia. Besides that, Mycotech brought six global brands, with one of the brands coming from Fashion for Good, for piloting to create prototypes, bring the products to the market, and make capsule collections.
In addition to focusing on Mylea, the company will also develop research and penetration for two other products made from mycelium for the long term. Biobo for creating remarkable structural patterns that rejuvenate residential, industrial, and public spaces, as well as composite research that allows exploring more about the many possibilities of mushrooms as the key to the future.
“Biomaterial innovations, such as mycelium leather, are instrumental to the industry’s transition towards more sustainably sourced materials and better practices. There has been an observable increase in demand for mycelium-based materials over the last decade. Fashion for Good believes Mycotech is rightly positioned to be a commercially viable solution in this space,” said Priyanka Khanna, Head of Global Expansion at Fashion for Good.
Peter Chia, CEO at Temasek Life Sciences Accelerator and Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, added, “Mycotech is at an inflexion point where transdisciplinary bioengineering research is poised for significant contributions toward sustainability.”
—
Echelon 2022 aims to provide intimate and focused discussions on key topics and business matching services to facilitate business-driven connections during the two-day event. e27 will curate and invite key stakeholders of startups, investors, corporates, and ecosystem enablers to drive towards fruitful business outcomes at Echelon.
The 2022 Echelon edition will be co-located with SWITCH at Resorts World Sentosa from 27 to 28 October 2022. Learn more here.
The post Indonesia’s Mycotech raises US$1.2M to develop eco-friendly leather for fashion industry appeared first on e27.