Focused fungi: Ecovative launches Forager subsidiary to serve fashion and automotive markets

In New York, mycelium materials company Ecovative has launched Forager, a division focused on designing, marketing, and manufacturing mycelium-based materials and foams for the fashion and automotive industries.

Grown on agricultural byproducts like corn husks, Forager’s pure mycelium materials are fully biodegradable and home compostable. Forager will utilize Ecovative’s AirMycelium™ technology to produce large sheets of pure mycelium material at commercial scale, with the ability to fine-tune density, shape, tensile strength, texture, and other qualities that meet standards in a range of fashion applications. Ecovative will also provide access to its Mycelium Foundry, which tests new strains and growing conditions to quickly develop novel materials with distinct qualities.

“Forager is launching at a moment when consumers and brands alike are eager for the next step in sustainable materials.” Says Nicole Rawling, Co-Founder and CEO of the Materials Innovation Initiative. “More and more people recognize that the future of what we make and use is regenerative and based in biology, but it’s going to take a diverse team of collaborators to make that vision a reality.”