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Earlier Work

Where We Started

Before food, before fashion—we pioneered mycelium manufacturing. These products proved the platform and opened doors.

Mushroom® Packaging

Grown in 7 days. Composts in 45.

Mushroom® Packaging uses agricultural waste and mycelium to create protective packaging that replaces petroleum-based foams. The material grows to shape in just 7 days and composts completely in 45 days—leaving nothing behind but soil nutrients.

This was Ecovative's first commercial product and the foundation that proved mycelium could be manufactured at scale. After years of development and global deployment, we open-sourced the core technology to accelerate adoption worldwide.

7 days
Growth time
45 days
Compost time
100%
Bio-based
<100K
Units/yr sweet spot

Our Journey

2007: Pioneered by Ecovative Design at RPI
2010: Launched commercially—first mycelium packaging on the market
2015: First international licenses granted
2020: $4.5M investment for European AirSpawn™ production
2023: Open-sourced core patents to spur global innovation

Current Reach

Technical Advantages

Visit Mushroom Packaging → Open Patent Program →

Mycelium Construction

Building Materials for a Low-Carbon Future

Mycelium-based construction materials were Ecovative's founding vision. In 2007, Eben Bayer and Gavin McIntyre set out to replace petroleum-based insulation with something that could be grown from agricultural waste.

The result: fire-resistant, carbon-negative building materials that sequester carbon both during growth and throughout their installed lifetime.

Applications

Technical Benefits

Carbon Sequestration
Captures carbon during growth and stores it throughout lifetime
Thermal Insulation
R-value comparable to traditional rigid foam
Fire Resistant
Natural fire retardancy without chemicals
Mold Resistant
Natural properties prevent mold growth

Pilot Projects

MoMA PS1
Hy-Fi Tower
A 40-foot tower built entirely from mycelium bricks. Winner of MoMA PS1's Young Architects Program.
Read on Dezeen →
Autodesk
Carbon Sequestering Facade
AI-powered sustainable housing project in Phoenix with mycelium facade panels.
Read on Autodesk →
NY Botanical Gardens
Wonderland Pavilion
Mycelium brick pavilion by Andre Kong / Studio Sprouts.
Read on Designboom →

Grow.bio

Empowering Mycelium Creators

Current Status

Grow.bio operations are currently suspended as we focus resources on commercial food production. The platform and community remain—seeds planted for future cultivation.

Grow.bio is our initiative to democratize mycelium technology. We provide the tools, knowledge, and community support for anyone to harness the power of mycelium—from backyard experimenters to design students to entrepreneurs prototyping new products.

The platform emerged from a core belief: the future of materials shouldn't be locked inside corporate labs.

🌐
Buckminster Fuller Foundation
Grow.bio was born from a grant supporting technology democratization

"You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete."

— R. Buckminster Fuller

What Grow.bio Provides

📦
Grow-at-Home Kits
Complete kits with substrate, spawn, and instructions.
📚
Maker Resources
Guides, tutorials, and technical documentation.
🧪
Research Materials
Spawn and substrate for academic research.
👥
Community
Connect with fellow growers worldwide.

Community Impact

Since 2018, Grow.bio has shipped kits to makers, designers, students, and researchers around the world. Projects spawned by our community have appeared in:

Visit Grow.bio →