Mycocycle Raises $2.2M in Seed Funding to Scale Mushroom-Based Circular Solutions for the Built Environment

With $3.7M total raised to date, Mycocycle is expanding operational capabilities, validating the reuse of its biobased byproduct and growing its team.

Mycocycle, a nature-inspired biotechnology startup operating in the waste-to-value space, today announced it has raised a total of $2.2M in seed funding, bringing total funds raised to $3.7M. Led by Anthropocene Ventures, the seed funding round also includes investments from the TELUS Pollinator Fund for Good, Alumni Ventures and Telescopic Ventures, among others. The new capital enables Mycocycle to establish a model pilot facility, develop its first-generation decentralized treatment container, validate reuse of its biobased byproduct, and expand its team.

Waste mismanagement accounts for 20% of global methane emissions and 3.3% of global greenhouse gas emissions. As efforts to limit global warming to 1.5° Celsius increase, the waste sector reflects a key opportunity to make progress towards global emission reductions. In the U.S. alone, construction and demolition produce 660 million tons of waste annually, which is more than twice the amount of municipal solid waste produced per year. With landfills at 85% capacity and global construction on the rise, there is a need to divert waste within the construction industry and drive circularity, repurposing materials whenever possible. By 2030, the construction industry is projected to be more than twice the size it was in 2020, with a total addressable market of $14.4T. This growth trajectory underscores the urgency for scalable, circular, waste diverting solutions.

Mycocycle is addressing waste mismanagement by transforming industrial waste into new raw materials. Mycelium is a fungal root structure that is fire and water-resistant, insulative and lightweight, making it an ideal material for the manufacturing of acoustic tile, flooring, concrete, walls and insulation. Through their patent-pending technology, Mycocycle optimizes the natural functions of fungi to detoxify and transform waste within the built environment like asphalt shingles, insulation board, crumb rubber, gypsum drywall, fibers and other hard-to-recycle building materials. The trash Mycocycle treats contain petroleum-derived chemicals like heavy hydrocarbons or plasticizers which may leave a legacy of environmental contamination when burned or buried. The process efficiently neutralizes toxicity while transforming materials into a renewable, low-carbon, mycelium-based raw material. Mycocycle’s transformative process drives circularity in the construction supply chain, diverts waste from landfills and lessens the need to extract new virgin materials from nature.

“In the global race to decarbonize the economy and prevent the planet from warming at devastating levels, waste management cannot be overlooked, nor can the power of nature-based solutions to create a brighter, more sustainable future for all,” said Joanne Rodriguez, founder and CEO of Mycocycle. “The completion of this seed funding round underscores Mycocycle’s readiness to scale and become a leading provider of low-carbon waste management solutions that function in harmony with the natural world. We’re primed to leverage mushrooms, the planet’s recyclers, across the nation’s waste and building materials sectors to reduce emissions in two of the heaviest-polluting industries and transform waste to resources.”

The company’s patent-pending approach takes approximately two weeks to reduce toxins and create a harvestable raw material. Mycocycle kicks off its 3-step treatment at the point of waste generation on site with manufacturers or contractors, leveraging its containerized solution, MYCOntainer, to ensure toxic waste is processed in a climate-controlled environment. The three phase process starts with blending lab-cultivated fungi with ground waste materials, allowing it to incubate and grow over 7-14 days, where it is then harvested and processed into new low-carbon raw materials like fillers and fibers used within the building products industry. Mycocycle's solution is able to reduce the toxicity of materials by up to 98% on average. The global mycelium market is expected to reach $3.84 billion by 2026 and Mycocycle’s disruptive solution is positioned to create a new market of bio based raw materials out of waste for the building materials industry (>$1 trillion market globally).

“At Anthropocene Ventures, we invest in firms that bring our economy into alignment with the ecology of the planet. Mycocycle’s innovative, waste-diverting solution, reflects that commitment and demonstrates that a world with less landfills and more synergy with nature isn't just possible, it's profitable.” said Matt McGraw, General Partner at Anthropocene Ventures. “In the continued fight against climate change, we’re proud to support Mycocycle's journey as the company addresses an enormous opportunity for decarbonization and circularity within the waste management, construction and manufacturing industries.”

Since launching, Mycocycle has treated 12,000 pounds of material via paid pilots with customers across the waste management, recycling and manufacturing sectors, as well as with building owners and contractors like META and Lendlease who are focused on reduction of Scope 3 emissions and innovations within their industries. In 2022, Mycocycle was a participant of the World Economic Forum/Accenture “The Circulars” Accelerator as 1-of-17 companies worldwide and was awarded a two-year paid fellowship through the Department of Energy's Argonne National Labs Chain Reaction Innovations Entrepreneurship Program. Through this program, Mycocycle will advance large scale treatment solutions for rubber waste.

With this funding, Mycocycle will expand its team with five new roles, including vice president of research and innovation and vice president of operations and product development. The company also plans to establish a model pilot facility to expand operational capabilities and develop its first generation decentralized treatment container, MYCOntainer(C), which will increase Mycocycle’s capacity to serve customers beyond their worksites. Leveraging the new capital, Mycocycle anticipates validating its biobased byproduct by Q3 of 2023.

To learn more about Mycocycle’s mission, visit www.mycocycle.com.

About Mycocycle

Mycocycle, Inc. is a nature-inspired and woman-owned biotechnology startup that leverages fungi to transform industrial waste into reusable materials. Founded in 2018, the company is on a mission to drive circularity in the construction supply chain and divert waste from landfills with its innovative solution. Mycocycle blends lab-cultivated fungi with debris at the point of waste generation to detoxify hard-to-recycle building materials and turn them into new raw materials. Its customers include companies across the waste management, recycling and manufacturing industries, as well as companies focused on reducing Scope 3 emissions.

In 2023, Mycocycle was issued a Declare label for its "MycoFILL (c) G" materials through the International Living Futures Institute, which recognized its products as Red List Chemical Free. Mycocycle is recognized on the 2023 Diamond List and is a FastCompany World Changing Ideas finalist. Its CEO has been honored as a Environment + Energy Leader Top 100 Leader, Crain's Chicago Top 50 Sustainability Executive and named to the inaugural Forbes Next 1000 list. To learn more, visit www.mycocycle.com.