“A Ukrainian entrepreneur produces ecological leather from the roots of mushrooms. Will the new material replace the animal material?”, — write: www.epravda.com.ua
The production of traditional leather of animal origin harms the environment. First, large fields are needed for livestock grazing, and then people cut down forests. Second, the production of such leather pollutes water and soil with chemicals. Thirdly, animal husbandry is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions.
Creating artificial leather from petroleum products – polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or polyurethane (PU) – is unlikely to solve the problem of negative impact on the environment, since its production pollutes the planet with plastic.
In recent decades, scientists have been actively developing an alternative to skin. One of them is mushroom mycelium – a natural material that requires fewer resources to manufacture, but has properties similar to leather. At the same time, its production is not accompanied by harmful emissions.
The American companies MycoWorks and Ecovative Design were among the first to work on the development of leather products from mushrooms. In Ukraine, too, there is a biotechnological startup for the production of leather from mushrooms – Mycelia Tech. Its founder, Marta Kondrin, attracted about 60,000 dollars to the project. She sews bags and other products from the innovative material.
Earlier EP wrote about another Ukrainian startup – S.Labwhich produces ecological packaging from technical hemp and mushrooms. It can replace Styrofoam or other environmentally harmful packaging.
From the editorial office. Small and medium-sized businesses make up more than half of the economy. Its representatives cannot lobby for their own interests, as big business does, but they always adapt to conditions and find new ways for development.
EP shares the principles that guide entrepreneurs in their pursuit of growth, so the editors share their interesting stories. These stories are not about stunning success and great fortune. These stories are about how Ukrainians who are in love with their work develop, work themselves, give work to others and share their experience.
Mushroom skinAbroad, the technology of manufacturing a skin substitute from mushroom mycelium (mushroom roots, which has a network structure) is quite common. Products from mycopods (the term used to denote the material from the mycelium of mushrooms) can be purchased on the market.
In 2020, an international group of scientists from Austria, Spain, Australia and Great Britain paid attention that mushroom skin can be a good alternative to natural and artificial substitutes.
At the same time, world brands became interested in mushroom leather: Adidas, Kering, Lululemon and Stella McCartney. They invested several million dollars in the biotechnology company Bolt Threads, which created mycelium skin under the Mylo brand.
Mycoleather has a smooth texture similar to natural leather and is an environmentally friendly alternative for industry. Companies have invested in startups to bring eco-friendly mushroom leather to the mass market and make it affordable.
For Ukraine, a skin substitute made from mushroom mycelium is a new product that is manufactured only by the mentioned startup from Ivano-Frankivsk. Kondrin says she became interested in material from mushroom mycelium during a trip to Indonesia. There she met the owners of the company that manufactures mycoleather and products from it.
Kondrin is also a co-founder of the Shuflia workshop in Ivano-Frankivsk, where products made of genuine leather are sewn. It exports part of the goods abroad. Due to the increased demand for environmentally friendly materials, she was looking for natural leather substitutes.
“I have been watching the trends in this field for a long time and I saw that the world is gradually moving to sustainable materials. The younger generation of workers no longer wants to work with harmful materials, and young people are more conscious and choose ecological things. I see a great demand from customers and brands, so leather from mushrooms is something you want to invest time and money in,” the entrepreneur explains.
From the laboratory to the sewing machineThe process of making leather from mushrooms takes up to two months. The material is the mushroom mycelium, which forms a natural entanglement of “threads”. It is grown in laboratory conditions on the basis of a substrate of boiled wheat and sawdust. This also requires a special type of inedible mushroom – “reishi” (lacquered tinder).
On an industrial scale, a base made of sawdust, coffee grounds, and straw is suitable for cultivation. “Under optimal conditions, the term for growing mycelium for skin from mushrooms is about 45 days. This is provided that there is electricity, because this process requires heat and a certain level of humidity,” explains Kondrin.
The quality of the substrate and the environment affect the growing period. In warm periods of the year, the material grows faster. The technology of growing and transforming mushroom mycelium into a skin substitute is patented. A patent for a useful model of an entrepreneur received in February 2024.
“We cooperate with scientists from Ivano-Frankivsk and Kyiv, we have a marketing team that helps position the product, and we have a tailoring department. We invest most of our resources in the biotechnological process,” says Kondrin.
In order for such leather to be durable, elastic and strong, after growing mycelium, it is pressed several times, dried and soaked in plasticizers. The final stage is processing under a thermopress (to give the material the appearance of real leather) and painting. Currently only available in black.
“Our capacities allow us to produce up to 50 square meters of leather at the same time. We do not seek to increase the volumes, because we are still improving the material. When we do this, then we can talk about larger capacities,” says Kondrin.
The production of leather from mushroom mycelium does not require as much water and other resources as for materials of animal or artificial origin. In addition, this process is friendly to nature. Ready-made leather from mushrooms is similar to natural leather, while it is more elastic and pleasant to the touch than artificial leather.
Unlike foreign mycoleather, which is positioned as biodegradable, the material from Mycelia Tech must be disposed of in the same way as animal skin. The team is trying to make the material biodegradable without losing its properties.
“We continue to improve the product and hope that the durability will be measured in decades. The material is not yet biodegradable. It can be biodegradable when it is not painted and contains only natural elements. We are moving towards this,” the co-founder of the startup notes.
Ready-made leather products based on mushrooms are already on sale. Cardholders and bags are made from this material. The startup is looking for brands that sew clothes and will be interested in using innovative material for cooperation.
60% of startup financing – rentsThe entrepreneur spent about 60,000 dollars on the development of the startup. She participated in programs that support the development of innovations in the field of sustainable development.
“We started the project with our own funds. The support of international organizations and Ukrainian grant programs was significant. We were also supported by a foreign private company that helped improve the processes. About 60% of the funding is grant funds,” explains the co-founder of the startup.
According to her, the funds involved are not enough to bring the product to the mass market. This requires a minimum of 200-300 thousand dollars.
The cost of finished material from mushroom mycelium, according to Kondrin’s calculations, is up to 32 euros per square meter. When scaling up production and implementing industrial technologies, this cost can be reduced, because the main materials for production are electricity and relatively cheap raw materials. Compared to natural leather of the premium segment, the price of mikoskin is lower.
Mycoleather products made by the entrepreneur are 10-15% more expensive than similar items made of animal material. For example, a traditional leather bag costs UAH 1,700, and a bag made of innovative material costs UAH 2,100. The co-founder of the startup emphasizes that this price is currently lower than the cost price.
“Thanks to the grants, we can set such a price for the Ukrainian market. Products made of new material have not yet been sent abroad, but we are thinking about it. If there was no grant support, the price would be many times higher,” says the entrepreneur.
In her opinion, the market of products based on mushroom mycelium has potential for development and in the near future such leather may replace natural leather.