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

Researchers at Annamalai University cultivated oyster mushrooms using fishery waste and recycled plastic bottles, addressing two environmental challenges simultaneously

The Protein Brewery received €2.3 million from the EU LIFE Programme to commercialise Fermotein, a mycoprotein ingredient targeting dairy alternatives.

The International Collection of Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (INVAM) at the University of Kansas houses 900 isolates representing 25% of all described AMF species worldwide

French agritech company MYCOPHYTO secured €16 million in Series A funding to expand production of mycorrhizal fungi biostimulants that improve crop water retention and yields

Swiss startup Yeastup has opened an industrial facility processing 4,000 litres of spent brewer's yeast hourly, converting beer waste into functional proteins and fibres

Researchers at the University of Bath tested 18 fungal strains to create mycelium-based insulation, finding all achieved thermal conductivity below 0.1 W/m·K; the threshold for effective insulation

Montana State University researchers developed biomineralised building materials using fungal mycelium scaffolds that maintain microbial viability for at least four weeks at elevated temperatures

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

ADAMA and BASF have partnered to develop fungicide formulations using Gilboa, a novel active ingredient with a new mode of action for cereal disease control