Mycocycle, a female-founded biotech firm that uses fungi to transform organic waste into reusable materials, has secured an oversubscribed $3.6 million Seed extension, led by Closed Loop Partners’ Ventures Group. The funding, which includes support from TELUS Pollinator Fund for Good, U.S. Venture, Inc., and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity INVENT Fund, brings Mycocycle’s total funding to $7.3 million.
Mycocycle’s process combines bioremediation treatments with various built environment waste materials – including asphalt shingles, rubber, gypsum boards, insulation lining, and old textiles – resulting in the production of non-toxic, high-quality raw materials.
“Mycocycle helps decarbonize the construction material supply chain through a cost-effective, sustainable process that produces useful raw material for the building industry,” said Joanne Rodriguez, founder and CEO of Mycocycle. “Further, the unique characteristics of mycelium lead to materials that are lightweight, thermally insulating, fire-retardant, and water-repellent.” She states that Mycocycle operates based on two key components:
- Mycelium treatment: Providing customers with the means to employ fungi for waste breakdown and detoxification on-site, at a comparable cost to incineration or other harmful disposal methods.
- Raw material production: Generating sustainable, harvestable raw materials for use in industrial fillers, fibers, or foams, offering a more environmentally friendly alternative to plastic polymers or petroleum-based chemicals.
“Mycocycle embodies Closed Loop Partners’ advancement of a truly circular economy and paints the vision for how rapid decarbonization of the construction supply chain can be profitable for companies today,” said Aly Bryan, Investor at Closed Loop Partners’ Ventures Group. “We are excited to partner with the Mycocycle team in the next phase of growth for the business and to ultimately enable more circular and local processing and production technologies for materials in the built world.”
