MycoWorks

What MycoWorks does

MycoWorks, founded in 2013 in San Francisco by Philip Ross and Sophia Wang, is a biotechnology company that has developed Fine Mycelium, a patented platform that engineers mycelium (the root structure of mushrooms) during growth to form proprietary interlocking cellular structures. Its flagship product, Reishi, is a premium mycelium-based leather alternative material designed to match or exceed animal leather in quality while being 100% natural, animal-free, plastic-free, and chrome-free. The material can be customized at the growth stage for thickness, drape, softness, and strength, enabling made-to-order luxury materials. Next-generation Reishi (Sept 2025) eliminated cotton inserts, raising tensile strength from under 10 MPa to over 16 MPa while cutting carbon footprint from 5.8 to 2.76 kg CO2 per square meter.

The company serves enterprise customers across luxury fashion (Hermès, Nick Fouquet, Allen St., Cuir du Vaudreuil), furniture and interior design (Ligne Roset, Populus, Studio TOOJ, Bjarke Ingels Group), automotive (GM/Cadillac SOLLEI concept), and design/art verticals (YUME YUME, T10 Bespoke). Revenue is generated primarily through B2B material sales to brand partners via direct enterprise sales, with additional revenue streams from licensing and technology partnerships and limited finished-product sales through partner e-commerce. The go-to-market combines direct enterprise sales with channel partners (tanneries and artisanal ateliers that finish and fabricate materials) and PR-driven brand-building through design events (Milan Design Week, Copenhagen 3daysofdesign, Luxury Innovation Summit).

MycoWorks raised over $187M in disclosed equity funding across Series A ($17M, March 2020), Series B ($45M, November 2020), and Series C ($125M, January 2022 led by Prime Movers Lab), plus a GM Ventures investment in October 2022. Operations span a 136,000 sq ft industrial-scale manufacturing plant in Union, SC (commissioned October 2023), the MycoWorks Innovation Center and pilot plant in Emeryville, CA, and a sales/showroom office in Paris. In January 2026, MycoWorks was acquired by DFX Corporation at a $300M valuation, with DFX launching Phase II growth strategy and reopening the Innovation Center in June 2026.

Name

MycoWorks

Legal name

Mycoworks Inc

Website

https://mycoworks.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Acquired

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

MycoWorks is a biotechnology company that produces Reishi, a premium mycelium-based leather alternative made via its patented Fine Mycelium platform. It sells to enterprise customers in luxury fashion, automotive, furniture, and interior design.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Biomaterials / Leather Alternatives

NAICS

Mushroom Production (111411)

akta.pro primary industry

Vegan/Alternative Material Goods Manufacturing (PU/Plant-based/Mycelium) (IMAOAHAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Mushroom & Fungi Production (Indoor/Protected) (AFAGAHAK)

Keywords

• Mycelium biotechnology
• Leather alternative materials
• Biomaterials manufacturing
• Sustainable fashion materials
• Fine mycelium technology

Headquarters

HQ city

Emeryville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Operations, Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Material Sales to Brand Partners: MycoWorks sells Reishi Fine Mycelium sheets and materials to luxury fashion brands and other manufacturers who incorporate the material into their products. Revenue is generated through direct B2B relationships with brand partners including Hermès, Ligne Roset, and automotive partners like GM/Cadillac.
2. Licensing and Technology Partnerships: The company licenses its proprietary Fine Mycelium technology to partners for specific applications and regions, generating licensing fees and ongoing royalties from technology deployment.
3. Finished Product Sales (Direct-to-Consumer): Through partnerships with brands like Nick Fouquet, MycoWorks participates in bringing finished Reishi products to market. The company also sells directly through select retail channels and e-commerce partnerships.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

MycoWorks engineers mycelium (the root structure of mushrooms) using its patented Fine Mycelium™ biotechnology platform to grow Reishi™, a premium, natural, animal-free leather alternative material. Reishi sheets are sold as made-to-specification material inputs to luxury fashion brands, automotive manufacturers, furniture makers, and interior designers, who incorporate them into finished products such as handbags, automotive interiors, furniture, and accessories.

Product overview

MycoWorks offers a platform-based product portfolio anchored by two core offerings: Fine Mycelium™ (their proprietary biotechnology platform) and Reishi™ (the flagship material produced using that platform). Fine Mycelium is a patented manufacturing technology that engineers mycelium during growth to create customizable, interlocking cellular structures. Reishi is the resulting premium material that serves as a leather alternative for luxury fashion, accessories, automotive interiors, and interior design applications. The portfolio includes specialized variants and finishing technologies such as Sylvania (the Hermès collaboration product) and Rei-tanning (sustainable tanning technology developed with Spanish tannery Curtidos Badia). The company operates manufacturing facilities in Union, South Carolina and maintains innovation centers in Emeryville, California and Paris, France.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Reishi: MycoWorks' flagship mycelium-based leather alternative material made from Fine Mycelium technology. Reishi is a premium, natural material that matches the quality and performance of the finest animal leathers.
• Fine Mycelium

Products and services

• Reishi™ A premium mycelium-based leather alternative material engineered using Fine Mycelium technology. Matches the quality and performance of the finest animal leathers while offering customizability for texture, drape, density, and flexibility. Sold as sheets to luxury fashion brands, automotive manufacturers, furniture makers, and interior designers.
• Fine Mycelium™ Proprietary patented biotechnology platform that engineers mycelium cells during growth to create three-dimensional, densely entwined structures with inherent strength. Enables tuning of drape, softness, thickness, and strength at every stage of growth. Licensable technology for material production.
• Sylvania A hybrid material of nature and biotechnology created exclusively through the Hermès and MycoWorks collaboration. Represents the first object made with Fine Mycelium technology, tanned and finished in France by Hermès tanners for luxury goods.
• Rei-tanning™ Material finishing technology developed in partnership with Curtidos Badia tanneries. Sustainable tanning process that has helped achieve unprecedented performance metrics for Reishi materials and broader market availability through tannery partner networks.

Quantifiable outcome

• Tensile strength improved from under 10 MPa to over 16 MPa with next-generation Reishi
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• DFX Corporation (DFx Corp)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 January 2026MycoWorks was acquired by DFX Corporation in a strategic restructuring valued at $300 million. Led by buyout veteran Daniel J. Frydenlund, the acquisition aims to accelerate growth and international expansion. Maud Ohler (previously SVP of Technology) leads the Fine Mycelium technology through its next phase. DFX launched Phase II with reopening of the Innovation Center in Emeryville.
• YUME YUMEmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2023Conscious design collective collaborated on world's first head-to-toe outfit made entirely from Reishi, exhibited at Stedelijk Museum Buro Stedelijk. Also created mycelial installation exploring humanity's relationship with nature.
• Nick FouquetcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 July 2022Luxury hatmaker created the first commercial products made entirely with Reishi. The collection includes Boletus, Coprinus, and Morchella hats. Nick Fouquet was the first designer to make a hat with Reishi, demonstrating the material's versatility.
• HermèscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2021Exclusive collaboration to create Sylvania, a hybrid of nature and biotechnology using Fine Mycelium. Hermès tanners finish and shape the material in their French workshops. The partnership resulted in the Victoria bag, the first object made with Fine Mycelium.
• Cuir du VaudreuilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFrench luxury leather atelier selected Reishi as their only natural, non-plastic, non-animal material. Partnership based on shared language of quality and deep appreciation for craftsmanship. CdV produces luxury goods using traditional techniques including stitching, pricking, and skiving.
• Ligne RosetcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerModern luxury furniture designer committed to implementing Reishi in their collections. First industrial collaboration created the Kobold Sofa. Partnership brings Fine Mycelium to luxury furnishings.
• PopulusmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUrban hotel in Denver used nearly 500 sheets of Reishi for 'The Reishi Tapestry' sculpture. First hospitality application of Fine Mycelium in interior design.
• Curtidos BadiacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSpanish tannery and MycoWorks partner since 2020. Developed Rei-tanning technology together, resulting in unprecedented performance metrics. Fourth-generation family business with innovative sustainable tanning methods.
• Design MiamimajorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartnership for Design Miami.Paris featuring interior design objects crafted from Reishi by seven French artists. Positions MycoWorks in high-end design context.
• Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLarge seating cubes sheathed in Reishi exhibited at MATERIALISM exhibition at BIG headquarters. Founder Bjarke Ingels described Reishi as 'indistinguishable from actual leather.'
• Studio TOOJmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerStockholm-based design studio created DUK collection with side tables, corner tables, and pedestals enveloped in Reishi. Debuted at Milan Design Week 2025.
• T10 Bespoke (EAR Micro)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLimited edition luxury hearables featuring Reishi Black emboss on charging cases. 'World's smallest luxury in-ear wireless computers' incorporating Fine Mycelium for first time in wearable technology.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Bolt Threads: Bolt Threads developed Mylo, a mycelium-based leather alternative grown from mycelium roots — the most direct technology peer to MycoWorks. Both companies targeted luxury fashion and apparel buyers, with Bolt Threads securing early partnerships at Stella McCartney, Adidas, and Kering.
• Ecovative Design: Ecovative pioneered commercial mycelium materials through its Mycelium Foundry platform, producing packaging and consumer materials from grown mycelium. It is a direct competitor in the engineered mycelium-materials category and operates its own consumer brand (Forager Foods) using the same upstream biotechnology.
• Spiber: Spiber is a Japanese biotech company producing Brewed Protein, a fermented structural-protein material used as a textile alternative. Like MycoWorks, it leverages biotechnology to deliver premium, animal-free material alternatives for fashion and apparel — for example, in collaborations with The North Face and Goldwin.
• Modern Meadow: Modern Meadow developed Bio-Tex, a bio-fabricated non-animal leather alternative using plant proteins and biotechnology. It competes directly with MycoWorks in the next-generation leather replacement market targeting fashion and luxury brands seeking sustainable animal-free materials.
• VitroLabs: VitroLabs produces cell-cultivated luxury leather grown from animal cells without slaughter. It targets the same high-end fashion houses as MycoWorks and represents a parallel biotech approach (cell-cultivation vs. mycelium growth) to premium leather alternatives.
• Mogu: Mogu is an Italian mycelium-materials company producing grown-fungal panels and bio-based finishes for fashion accessories and interior design. They share the mycelium technology foundation with MycoWorks and target adjacent interior and surface-application use cases in Europe.

Emerging players

• Ananas Anam: Ananas Anam produces Piñatex, a plant-based leather alternative made from pineapple leaf fiber. While not mycelium-based, it competes in the same sustainable leather alternative market MycoWorks targets — supplying fashion brands such as Hugo Boss and H&M.
• MyForest Foods: MyForest Foods produces mycelium-based food products (MyBacon) using fungal fermentation technology. While targeting food rather than materials, they share the underlying mycelium cultivation technology stack with MycoWorks and represent an adjacent application of the same biotech.
• Beyond Leather Materials: Beyond Leather Materials produces apple-based leather alternatives from fruit waste (Imacafé brand). They compete with MycoWorks in the plant/bio-based leather alternative space, targeting fashion brands seeking circular-economy materials.

Broad incumbents

• Toray Industries: Toray Industries is a major Japanese materials conglomerate producing Ultrasuede and other synthetic leather alternatives at global scale. They compete with MycoWorks broadly in the alternative-materials category — particularly in automotive interiors — with deep distribution and supply-chain advantages built over decades.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/MycoWorksInc
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC_uf3nbCW4rgkGl5t5gPsbw
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mycoworks
• Instagraminstagram.com/mycoworks
• Facebookfacebook.com/MycoWorks

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds8 records

Investors21 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about MycoWorks