Mycelia

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.

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

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

• Mushroom spawn production
• Mycelium products
• Fungal biotechnology
• Substrate cultivation
• Mushroom strain supply

Headquarters

HQ city

Deinze

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. 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.
2. 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

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core 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.

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Sac O2coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1996Sac 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)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorExclusive 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 BusinessminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPreferred 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.
• EurosubstratminorOthersFrench producer of lignicolous substrates - partner in the producer network
• Mycelia AcademycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSpinoff 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

Emerging 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

• Facebookfacebook.com/MyceliaBE
• LinkedInpt.linkedin.com/company/myceliabe
• Instagraminstagram.com/myceliabe

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Mycelia