MYCOWORKS TALK 14

Why Mycelium? With Matt Scullin, MycoWorks CEO

“Biology is the new frontier. It’s still the great unknown,” shares Matt Scullin, materials scientist and MycoWorks CEO. In this episode, Matt dives into the enormous opportunity in the materials industry, how mycelium is a uniquely positioned organism to unlock this new frontier, and the challenges of scaling up our technology as we build the new plant in South Carolina. 

“Materials are a multi-trillion dollar opportunity; it’s an industry that vastly needs to transform.” 

 “The combination of science and creativity will take us into our next phase of being humans and using biology the way that we already used physics and chemistry.” 

“We make something special at MycoWorks, an incredibly unique product ––the only grown sheet of biomaterial.” 

“You could use mycelium as an ingredient, as many do, fabricating “mushroom leathers,” but you really lose the amazing properties of mycelium when you do that. What makes mycelium cool is that it’s a tunable material; it’s a unique platform for creating different types of materials.” 

“We’re only scratching the surface to understand how sensitive this organism is. You can’t just open a textbook about creating mycelium materials – we’re writing that.”

“Think about iron and metals three thousand years ago. With mycelium, we’re equivalent to where people were with iron three thousand years ago.” 

“At MycoWorks, we’re inventing a new tool to grow materials with our Fine Mycelium platform. Leather is just the first step toward building the next great industry.” 

“Hermès is our north star – the partner that has helped us understand what quality means.” 

 In this episode:

• 2:20 – Why mycelium?
• 9:25 – “Biology is the new frontier. It’s still the great unknown.”
• 11:50 – The challenges of scaling our technology, Fine Mycelium™
• 17:00 – Patience and where we are at MycoWorks
• 24:00 – Why Reishi™ is a unique, new material
• 26:30 – Unlocking the future of biomaterials
• 29:35 – “Hermès is our north star.”

MycoWorks Talks is a space to feed your wonder and curiosity for a new class of materials. Xevi Gallego, our VP of Brand & Marketing, hosts talks with people in the MycoWorks universe, taking you on a behind-the-scenes journey of unfiltered conversations about our product, technology, our incredible team, and much more.