Vancouver-based Maia Farms raised C$3.75 million to expand production of mushroom and mycelium ingredients targeting functional health applications beyond traditional protein markets

Bulgarian researchers conducted a 12-month study showing Hericium erinaceus biomass supplementation improved brain wave patterns in 57 children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder

Estonian biotech company Äio received €1.2 million from the national innovation agency to scale production of microbial fats derived from industrial byproducts

Penicillium has been named Microbe of the Year 2026, recognising its role in producing antibiotics that have saved millions of lives since 1928. Industrial strains now produce hundreds of thousands of times more penicillin than the original discovery, with global production reaching 50,000 tonnes annually

This is the fourth article in a six-part series exploring critical themes shaping the future of functional mushrooms, in partnership with Finnish biotech company KÄÄPÄ Biotech . For centuries, chaga has been one of nature’s most powerful secrets. In the Nordics, in the cold, on slow-growing birch forests, this charcoal-black conk develops over many years. Throughout that time it accumulates the bioactive compounds that have made it an essential part of traditional medicine ac