The Future is Fungi Award

In a world facing complex challenges, fungi offer both opportunity and hope. They teach us resilience, adaptation, and the power of interconnection. “Mushrooms remind us that change and growth can emerge from the darkest and most unexpected places.” — Paul Stamets The fungi featured in this image are from the incredible photographies of: 📸 @planet_fungi (Steve Axford & Catherine Marciniak) 📸 @Cyansense (Jay Litcher) #Fungi #Mycelium #FutureIsFungi #Mycology Susanne Gløersen

PODCAST ALERT 🎙👇 Why aren’t we seeing more research turned into real-world solutions? Could fungi help solve our biggest environmental challenges? 🍄 In this episode, we talk to Prof. Han Wösten, who has spent over 35 years exploring fungal biology. His journey ranges from laboratory experiments and pioneering research to collaborative industry projects. Topics we cover: 🧪 Mindset shifts: Bridging the gap between research and entrepreneurship 🎨 Creative collisions: What happens when artists and scientists team up 🏭 Breaking barriers: Overcoming institutional hurdles to biotech innovation 🌱 Mycelium’s future: Insulation, coatings, and leather alternatives Join us for a conversation about impact, creativity, and what it takes to bring science out of the lab — and into the world. 🎧 Listen here: https://lnkd.in/dTjteqdX Apple Podcast: https://lnkd.in/dyXzXTbg Spotify: https://lnkd.in/dfQhJ5Gk #Fungi #Mycelium #FutureIsFungi #ClimateTech #FungiInnovation #Biotech #AppliedScience #Sustainability #NatureBasedSolutions Utrecht University MOGU Susanne Gløersen Brigit Van Brenk

PODCAST ALERT 🎙👇 🍄 "Harnessing Fungi, Building the Future" – lessons in biomimicry, sustainability, and scaling from Mycocycle, Inc.’s founder Joanne Rodriguez, on how fungi can transform waste into valuable materials. What started as a vision to decarbonize the material supply chain with fungi turned into a high-impact journey—scaling from a small lab experiment to an industrial solution that’s replacing plastics and reshaping the built environment. 💡 What’s the opportunity? 🌍 Waste as a Resource: Mycocyle tackles hard-to-recycle materials—think rubber, carpets, and drywall—turning them into high-performance biopolymers that outperform traditional materials. 🔄 Biomimicry in Action: Inspired by fungi’s ability to recycle and regenerate, the company adopts nature’s systems to create truly circular solutions—where nothing is wasted. 🚀 Scaling with Precision: Growing a company isn’t just about tech; it’s about creating systems that mimic nature’s resilience. From incubators and accelerators to working with major brands in outdoor gear and construction, Microcycle’s journey shows what’s possible when innovation meets biology. Next step? Expansion into Europe—and they’re looking for fermentation specialists and partners to help scale the vision globally. 🌱 Curious how fungi could reshape industries? 🍄 Listen to the full story here: https://lnkd.in/dYmMGdjU Spotify: https://lnkd.in/d9j6NwHS Apple Podcast: https://lnkd.in/dXtrKEMS #Fungi #Mycelium #Fungaltechnologies #Biotechnology #Startups #Biomimicry #CircularEconomy #Sustainability #Innovation #NatureBasedSolutions #Fungi Barbara Mitchell

🍄 ⚡ Bringing fungal innovations to market isn’t just about having the right technology—it’s about understanding timing, focus, and market needs. In our latest The Future is Fungi Podcast, Eben Bayer, Co-founder & CEO of Ecovative - the mycelium technology company, shares invaluable insights on how #startups can successfully scale #fungi-based products. One standout example? GOB, a startup that turned air #mycelium into compostable earplugs for concerts, solving a global waste problem while identifying a high-value niche. Eben’s advice: ✨ Find the niche where your material has a competitive edge ✨ Focus deeply: Don’t dilute your efforts by chasing every opportunity. ✨ Understand timing: “You can have the right technology and solve a real problem, but unless there’s market readiness, success is elusive.” 🎥 Watch the video to hear Eben’s take on GOB’s smart strategy, and listen to the full episode to learn how you can take your fungal innovation from lab to market: Spotify: https://lnkd.in/dFs-Ti8K Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/dYKWz5NS #Fungaltechnologies #Biotechnology #Futurism Lacey Davidson Susanne Gløersen

#Fungi in Davos! Last week in #Davos at the same time as World Economic Forum took place, founder Susanne Gløersen brought over The Future is Fungi Award to put a focus on how we can leverage the powerful kingdom of #fungi to solve some of our largest environmetal challenges! 🌎🍄🟫 We moderated a table around #fungiinnovation at the Innovate 4 Nature dinner (with key note speakers such as Paul Polman, former CEO of Unilever and a pioneer in #sustainability). Thank you to team I4N for inviting, incl. Barbara Dubach and Dr. Philipp Staudacher✨ I4N is another award highlighting #nature based solutions, and a friend of the award - we are on the same mission🌎🍃 The Future is Fungi Award also hosted great morning session at Standard Chartered in Davos, telling about the award and some of the pioneering innovations getting to the top. Thanks to collaboration partner Christian Schmitz in PDIE Group and also to the SC team! We look forward to the continuation of putting #fungi on the map, showcasing how this kingdom of life can be one of our best allows to enable a more #regenerative economy🌎✌️🍃 Join us! #fungi #mycelium #biotech #frontier #science #startups

2nd place startup Visibuilt is featured in Nature Magazine with their novel innovation replacing bitumen in asphalt production with fungi. The world’s first fermentation-based binder for the asphalt industry🙌 As you know, Nature Magazine is the leading international journal of science worldwide, so we are truly proud to have Visibuilt with Line Kloster Pedersen and the team featured!🎉🎉 Check it out below (note need of subscription) https://lnkd.in/dNSGY-CN #fungitechnology #fungi #frontier #mycelium #biotech Cecilie Håkansson Susanne Gløersen

PODCAST ALERT 🎙👇 When Eben Bayer, the co-founder of Ecovative - the mycelium technology company in 2006 said he wanted to make materials out of fungi, few people believed in him. Today, Ecovative is one of the largest fungi scale ups, holding the most patents worldwide. Listen in to Eben's trailblazing journey, turning vision into reality! ✅ Ecovative is leading the way of fungal innovations with products ranging from fungal leather to mycelium based bacon. ✅ Hear Eben’s advice for entrepreneurs, updates on Ecovative’s progress, and his thoughts on some truly mind blowing future applications of mycelium. ✅ Bonus: we even talk about  fungal consciousness! 🍄 This is a must-listen for innovators, #sustainability enthusiasts, and anyone curious about the power of fungi.✨ Featuring music by Modern Biology. 📣 Share your thoughts after listening or tag someone who’d love this episode! 🎧 https://lnkd.in/dXQcDDZM 👉 on Spotify: https://lnkd.in/dJJh3Ndi 👉 on Apple Podcast: https://lnkd.in/dYKWz5NS #Fungi #Mycelium #Fungaltechnologies #Biotechnology #Startups #Futurism  Lacey Davidson Susanne Gløersen

Are you our new #COO? The Future is Fungi Award is now recruiting a COO to accelerate the award and initiatives focusing on catalyzing fungal #scientists to #commercialize their gamechanging innovations, building a global ecosystem and helping fungi hashtag #startups to scale! A key focus for the upcoming award is a venture builder programme that helps the top 5 scientists in the award to learn how to build a startup. As COO, you’ll play a pivotal role in developing this award and its ecosystem, with a primary focus on leading operations to achieve its full potential. You can read more about the position here 👉 https://lnkd.in/dBGxcchz The position is based on Stockholm. About The Future is Fungi Award and organization: 🍄 Our mission is to be an engine & catalyst for accelerating fungal innovations globally that solves pressing environmental challenges. 🔬 We have a key focus on commercializing frontier fungal science in to real world solutions. 🌎 We are convening a diverse ecosystem globally across research institutions, corporates, investors and the wider innovation ecosystem to further accelerate fungal innovations worldwide. Get in touch! #fungi #frontierscience #startups #biotechnology #regeneration

Are you a fungi startup or scientist going to #Davos during World Economic Forum? Or a larger corporate interested in and deploying fungal technologies? A foundation backing frontier biotech solutions solving environmental challenges? If so, we would like to talk with you as we are planning an event together with PDIE Group , a collaboration partner to the award. Reach out to me here👌 #fungi #biotechnology #futurefit #regenerative #frontierscience Christian Schmitz PDIE Group Bezos Earth Fund Temasek Trust