The Future is Fungi Awards: Building the Global Launchpad for Science Entrepreneurs
- Marc Violo
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
Article in partnership with The Future is Fungi Award. The Future is Fungi Award is the world's only global award and a venture launchpad dedicated to breakthrough innovations using fungi to regenerate the planet. By connecting leading universities, corporates, investors, innovators and philanthropists, the initiative accelerates the most promising fungal science and startup innovators from lab to market for a sustainable fungal future.
Lead the next wave of frontier fungal innovation with the Science Entrepreneur Award. Your research deserves a global launchpad. Submit your application by March 16th and secure your chance to make a global impact. Submit your application here today!
Why Fungi Are the Next Biotech Frontier
We are entering the Mycelium Age. A time when materials are grown rather than manufactured, when living systems replace extractive ones, and regeneration becomes infrastructure. The question for scientists is no longer "Is this publishable?" but "Is this buildable?"
Mycelium is driving the next wave of sustainable materials, agriculture and circular economy solutions. Europe now holds nearly a third of the global biomaterials market, while North America leads in investment and scale in fungal remediation and industrial biotech. From carbon-negative construction materials to soil-regenerating agriculture and replacing petrochemicals in everyday products, fungi are emerging as a foundational platform technology for the bio-based economy. We are witnessing a global awakening around fungi's potential to power a new industrial revolution — one designed by nature itself.
The Need for a Global Catalyst
Breakthrough fungal research often lacks visibility beyond academia. At the same time, early-stage fungal startups struggle to access capital, strategic partners and venture-building expertise. The Future is Fungi Award was created to close that gap.
"This is about equipping scientists not only with capital, but with courage, visibility, venture-building expertise and momentum," says Susanne Gløersen, Founder and CEO of The Future is Fungi Award.
For Susanne, the mission is deeply personal."Novel fungal innovations don't scale on brilliant research alone. They need a living ecosystem — scientists, advisors, corporates, investors, philanthropists and global partners collaborating to grow regenerative solutions our planet urgently needs. Innovation is like a fungal network: each thread matters."
Together with top-tier research institutions, corporates, venture capitalists and philanthropists, the award identifies high-impact fungal research globally and provides the validation, infrastructure and ecosystem needed to scale.
Launching the Science Entrepreneur Award
Applications are open from 9 February to 16 March. Moving from academia to entrepreneurship can be daunting. That is why The Future is Fungi Award gives top winners access to a structured three-month venture-building programme designed specifically for science entrepreneurs. The goal is not to dilute scientific rigour, but to amplify it — transforming deep research into viable, high-impact ventures.
Through expert-led lectures, one-to-one mentoring and tailored resources, winners will learn how to turn pioneering fungal discoveries into startups with real-world impact. The top winner also receives investment to scale their newly founded company. Award experts include representatives from L'Oréal, Novonesis, Sylvan.bio, BASF, DSM-Firmenich, the Magan Centre for Applied Mycology, Stanford and VTT, alongside startup specialists in scaling, regulatory affairs, IP, commercial strategy and team-building.
"Too often, groundbreaking research remains confined to laboratories and publications. We need to empower scientists to become founders, builders and changemakers who dare to lead the way," says Susanne Gløersen. The award is now open for applications and is looking for science entrepreneurs ready to turn fungal research into planet-changing solutions.
If you believe your research deserves a global stage, submit your application to The Future is Fungi Science Entrepreneur Award. Know a brilliant science entrepreneur who should apply? Share this opportunity with them, or recommend a great fungal researcher by reaching out to.
Who Should Apply?
The jury is looking for frontier fungal innovations contributing to significant positive environmental impact, with strong market opportunity, scaling potential and a compelling value proposition. Applications are open to solo applicants or teams with a science founder whose project has reached at least Technology Readiness Level 3. Applicants must either incorporate within eight months of applying or have incorporated no more than ten months prior to applying.
Fungi as the Engine of Environmental Transformation
We are living at a turning point. Climate instability, resource scarcity and environmental degradation demand solutions that work with nature rather than against it. Beneath our forests, fields and cities lies one of the most powerful innovation networks on Earth.
"We are entering a decade where biology becomes the most powerful manufacturing platform on Earth. Regenerative materials and living systems engineering are merging, with fungi at the heart of this transformation. The Future is Fungi Science Entrepreneur Award is a call to pioneering scientists who believe their work belongs not only in journals, but in the world," says Susanne Gløersen.
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