Freethink
Dec 16, 2021
A look inside the MycoWorks lab that grows alt leather

The video publication Freethink produced “Inside the lab growing leather from mushrooms” to explain the trouble with relying on cows for leather products and explore the new and emerging market for earth-friendly, leather-like materials made from mycelium—the thread-like fungal roots that grow underneath mushrooms. Featuring the Fine Mycelium product made by MycoWorks (SOSV IBSF03 2016), the video shows how “the fungus leather shares common traits with animal leather: durability, strength, aesthetics, and feel” but far exceeds it in sustainability and versatility. 

On whether Fine Mycelium will eventually replace leather, MycoWorks CEO Matthew Scullin says, “I don’t think leather is going away, and I don’t think plastic is going away. I think that, eventually, those materials are going to run into even bigger constraints, even bigger walls, than they are today. Material like Fine Mycelium is going to be able to pick up that slack.”