Mycelia
Mycelia NV is a Belgian biotechnology company that produces mycelium and mushroom spawn (400+ strains, 35+ recipes) at four development stages for professional cultivators, substrate producers, and R&D teams across Europe and select international markets, with adjacent training and consulting services.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1985
- HeadquartersDeinze, Belgium
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Mycelia does
Mycelia NV is a Belgian biotechnology company headquartered in Deinze that produces fungal mycelium for professional cultivators across a four-stage production chain: mother cultures (Stage 1, in tubes, petri dishes, and cryovials), mother spawn (Stage 2, syringes and bags), inoculum (Stage 3, 5000ml grain bags), and final spawn (Stage 4, in 50g to 10L bags plus wood dowels). Founded in 1985 by Magda Verfaillie, the firm operates a single 37,000-liter (~22 tonnes/week) grain spawn facility and offers a catalog of 400+ mushroom strains across 35+ substrate recipes, spanning Pleurotus, Lentinula edodes (shiitake), Agaricus bisporus, specialty gourmet species, and bioindustrial categories such as mycomaterials and imperfect fungi.
The business monetizes through unit-priced B2B sales of mycelium products EX WORKS via a professional webshop with personal account onboarding, complemented by two service lines: Mycelia Academy (online and on-site training, including a 5-day Substrate & Wood Fungi Production course) and Mycovision (custom R&D consultancy for the mushroom industry and biocontrol market). Distribution combines direct webshop sales, an exclusive UK arrangement with Urban Farm-It, and a European network of hobby-product resellers spanning Germany, Sweden, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, and Belgium. Customers include professional mushroom growers, substrate producers (Eurosubstrat, Pilzgarten, CNC Exotic Mushrooms), and R&D teams working on biostimulants, mycomaterials, enzymes, bioremediation, and animal feed.
Mycelia holds foundational IP including the Microsac air-permeable bag and Microbox culture vessel, both invented in 1995 and now operated through sister company Sac O2 (spun off 1996). Leadership rests with co-leads Magda Verfaillie and her son Kasper Moreaux (Managing Director since 2021), supported by a small in-house team. The company is privately held, has not disclosed funding rounds or revenue, and is planning further on-site expansion at the Deinze facility to meet growing demand.
Mycelia firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Mycelia
- Legal name
- Mycelia NV
- Website
- https://mycelia.be
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1985
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Mycelia NV is a Belgian biotechnology company that produces mycelium and mushroom spawn (400+ strains, 35+ recipes) at four development stages for professional cultivators, substrate producers, and R&D teams across Europe and select international markets, with adjacent training and consulting services.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Mycelia industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Mushroom Spawn and Mycelium Production
- NAICS
- Mushroom Production (111411)
- SIC
- Agricultural Production-Crops (100)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Propagation & Seedling/Plug Production (Vegetable Transplants, Tissue-Culture Liners) (AFAGAHAG)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Mushroom & Fungi Production (Indoor/Protected) (AFAGAHAK), Mushroom Farming (Button, Oyster, Shiitake) (AFAGADAJ), Biological Seed Treatments & Inoculants (within Biologicals) (AFABAEAL)
Keywords
Where Mycelia is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Deinze
- HQ country
- Belgium
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Mycelia business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Mycelium Product Sales: Sales of mycelium products at different development stages: mother cultures (tubes, petri dishes, cryovials), mother spawn (syringes, bags), inoculum (bags), and spawn (50g to 10L bags, wood dowels). Products sold at EX WORKS pricing.
- Training and Consultancy Services: Mycelia Academy provides group and individual training on mushroom and mycelium production. R&D team (Mycovision) offers consultancy for product development.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Mother Culture (Stage 1) - tubes, petri dishes, cryovials |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Mother Spawn (Stage 2-3) - syringes and bags |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Spawn (Stage 4) - bags from 50g to 10L, wood dowels |
| Other | Pay-as-you-go | Custom/Non-standard Products |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
Mycelia product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Mycelia produces mycelium at four sequential stages of development (Mother Culture in tubes/petri dishes/cryovials; Mother Spawn in syringes and bags; Inoculum in 5000ml bags; Spawn in 50g to 10L bags and wood dowels) across more than 400 strains and 35+ substrate recipes. Customers include professional mushroom growers, substrate producers, and research teams. Complementary offerings include Mycelia Academy training and Mycovision R&D consultancy.
Product overview
Mycelia is a biotechnology company producing mycelium at different stages of development across a four-generation production system: Stage 1 (Mother Culture), Stage 2 (Mother Spawn), Stage 3 (Inoculum), and Stage 4 (Spawn). The company offers more than 400 strains available in over 10 recipes. Adjacent services include Mycelia Academy for training and consultancy, and Mycovision for R&D collaboration. The product portfolio includes various mushroom strains (Pleurotus, Lentinula edodes, Agaricus, and specialty species), laboratory products like malt extract agar plates, and Generation 2 liquid mycelium products in syringes. The company also organizes the WoodFungi Conference and provides free blog content on mushroom cultivation techniques.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Mother Culture (Stage 1) Primary mycelium cultures available in tube, petri dish, and cryovial formats for laboratory use by professional cultivators and researchers.
- Mother Spawn (Stage 2-3) Secondary multiplication stage products available as syringes (15ml, 500ml) and bags (1000ml, 5000ml) for expanding cultures into inoculum and spawn volumes.
- Spawn (Stage 4) Final grain-based spawn products available in 50g bags, 1L, 5L, and 10L bags, plus wood dowels (50, 500, 1000 pcs), sold to commercial growers worldwide.
- Generation 2 Liquid Mycelium Products Liquid mycelium products available as syringes with needles and injection ports, designed to maintain viability during worldwide transport.
- Malt Extract Agar (MEA) Test Plates Sterile pre-poured agar culture medium test plates for quality control and mycelium production, available in standard MEA and MEA+ with dextrose variants.
- Mycelia Academy Training Courses Education and training services (group and individual courses, on-site and online) covering industrial production of mycelium, substrates, wood fungi, biobased materials, and pasteurised substrates, including the intensive 5-day Substrate & Wood Fungi Production Course.
- Mycovision R&D Consultancy Contract research and product development services that give customers access to Mycelia's 40 years of fungi know-how, strain library, and substrate recipes for developing products in the mushroom industry or biocontrol market.
Companies that use Mycelia
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Mycelia technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature1 record
Mycelia partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Sac O2coreSac O2 is a sister company to Mycelia, specializing in air-permeable growing bags (Microsac) and culture vessels (Microbox) for mycelium production. Both companies share founder Magda Verfaillie's leadership and complementary expertise in the mushroom cultivation ecosystem.
- Urban Farm-It (UFI)coreExclusive distributor for mushroom spawn in the United Kingdom, with the exception of volumes larger than 150 bags of spawn. Serves the UK hobby and professional mushroom grower market.
- Mushroom BusinessminorPreferred media partner - international magazine for professional mushroom growers and researchers. Mycelia staff contribute freelance articles including founder Magda Verfaillie (General Manager of Agro Invest Group) and Managing Director Kasper Moreaux.
- EurosubstratminorFrench producer of lignicolous substrates - partner in the producer network
- Mycelia AcademycoreSpinoff company providing consultancy and training services for the mushroom industry. Offers on-site and online courses including Substrate & Wood Fungi Production Course.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves10 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Mycelia competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- Mogu: Italian mycelium-based interior and acoustic panel producer. Adjacent to Mycelia's mycomaterials R&D customer base, but downstream as a finished-product manufacturer rather than a spawn/inoculum producer.
- Ecovative Design: Industrial mycelium materials company using fungal mycelium to grow packaging, leather alternatives, and food (Atlast Food Co.). Comparable to Mycelia in that it sits on the same mycelium-supply ecosystem and is one of the R&D customer segments Mycelia serves (mycomaterials/biocontrol).
- GroCycle: Mushroom cultivation training and consulting company offering online courses and supplies for hobbyists and small commercial growers. Comparable to Mycelia Academy's educational offering and adjacent to Mycelia's spawn business, with a stronger consumer/hobby and content-marketing orientation.
Broad incumbents
- Fungi Perfecti: Pioneer in medicinal and gourmet mushroom mycelium products, supplements, and grow kits, founded by Paul Stamets. Comparable to Mycelia in deep fungi expertise and multi-species product portfolio, but much larger, US-based, and brand-led/consumer-facing rather than B2B spawn-focused.
- Sylvan Inc. Global leader in mushroom spawn production and a major diversified supplier of spawn for the commercial button mushroom industry. Directly comparable as an industrial-scale spawn producer serving professional growers, but operating at far greater scale and with a broader geographic footprint than Mycelia's niche, specialty-focused model.
Regional players
- Urban Farm-It: UK-based mushroom spawn supplier and urban farming retailer that is also Mycelia's exclusive UK distributor (excluding large orders). Comparable as a regional spawn reseller, but with a much narrower species range and a hobby/small-grower focus.
- Smallhold: US-based indoor specialty mushroom farm and consumer brand operating distributed mini-farms. Comparable as a downstream customer for specialty mycelium/spawn, especially exotic and wood-loving species, though it is primarily US-focused and vertically integrates growing rather than reselling spawn.
Direct peers
- Amycel: Specialist commercial mushroom spawn producer (notably Agaricus strains) with multi-decade history serving professional growers worldwide. Closely comparable to Mycelia in business model (grain spawn, B2B sales to cultivators) and in emphasis on strain quality and consistency, though Amycel is more focused on the white button segment.
- Lambert Spawn: Long-established North American mushroom spawn supplier serving commercial and specialty growers with a multi-strain catalog. Highly comparable to Mycelia as a specialty spawn producer with both standard edible species and exotic/medicinal offerings sold through B2B channels.
Others
- Mycelia Academy (sister entity): Wholly-owned training and consultancy spinoff of Mycelia, offering courses and advisory services on industrial mycelium, substrate, and wood-fungi production. Not an independent peer, but directly relevant as the training/consulting arm whose course content and customer base overlap with mushroom education providers like GroCycle.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Mycelia social profiles
Digital presenceMycelia compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
Mycelia financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Mycelia leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Mycelia subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries2 records
Mycelia funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Mycelia M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Mycelia
What does Mycelia do?
Mycelia produces mycelium at four sequential stages of development (Mother Culture in tubes/petri dishes/cryovials; Mother Spawn in syringes and bags; Inoculum in 5000ml bags; Spawn in 50g to 10L bags and wood dowels) across more than 400 strains and 35+ substrate recipes. Customers include professional mushroom growers, substrate producers, and research teams. Complementary offerings include Mycelia Academy training and Mycovision R&D consultancy.
Is Mycelia a public or private company?
Mycelia is a private company. It is classified as family owned and is currently operating.
When was Mycelia founded?
Mycelia was founded in 1985. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Mycelia based?
Mycelia is headquartered in Deinze, Belgium, in the Europe region.
How does Mycelia make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Mycelium Product Sales are the primary driver. The others are training and Consultancy Services.
Who are Mycelia's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are Mogu, Ecovative Design and GroCycle. Broad incumbents are Fungi Perfecti and Sylvan Inc.. Regional players are Urban Farm-It and Smallhold. Direct peers are Amycel and Lambert Spawn. Mycelia Academy (sister entity) is listed as an others.
Does Mycelia have an API?
No public API is recorded for Mycelia.
What industry is Mycelia in?
Mycelia's product category is Mushroom Spawn and Mycelium Production. Its primary akta.pro industry code is AFAGAHAG, Propagation & Seedling/Plug Production (Vegetable Transplants, Tissue-Culture Liners), with a secondary code of AFAGAHAK, Mushroom & Fungi Production (Indoor/Protected). Its NAICS code is 111411 and its SIC code is 100.