Fungi based leather and insulation Biomaterials developed from fungi and agri waste

There are 2 major issues one is of waste management in agriculture and another is the problems ,hazards and cruelty involved in the leather industry . After Harvest in most of the places farmers use to burn their generated waste which causes air pollution as well as the heat degrades the soil organic layer structure and kills the beneficial microbes .

The leather industry In India is a large industry involving many individuals working for a living but due to higher heavy metal contamination and exposure to it daily will kill 70 % of them ,also the water from tanneries were released untreated to rivers and streams which pollutes the river.

Our Biomaterial can solve these issues as the production process will involve utilizing those agriculture wastes as a growing Substrate for the fungus. This will add value to the waste and provide additional income to the farmers. (WASTE TO WEALTH).

o This leather provides a better option to reduce the use of animal and synthetic leather and shift towards a true sustainable, eco friendly & cruelty-free option.

o Leather like material developed has no effect on human skin and does not cause allergic reactions.

o No chipping after long term use .

o Quick drying than the animal leather .

o At the end the spent substrate can be turned into a nutrient rich Compost or used for Bio-fabrication.

o For each 6 sqft of mushroom leather produced we are saving a cattle(cow/Buffalo) life.

o Saving 1 lakh liters of water required in case of processing a single cow hide.

o Reduced carbon footprint. 

o The fungi leather colour is white and it can be dyed to any colour using organic colours obtained from plants or other fungi. . 

o The biomaterial developed has immense potential in future application not restricting it to be used as leather only but in a wide prospective in different sectors like shipping industry, packaging industry, housing and construction, single use plastic replacement , insulation ,etc.

Farmers and individuals can be directly impaced as the agri waste that we will be utilizing can give additional income to the farmers and making leather and insulation material out of fungi will be acceptable to all the individuals in india as it comes in vegan side whereas leather from cow ,ox hurts religious sentiment of a huge population of india as well as not acceptable among the peoples , so by not getting proper option individuals choose to use plastic synthetic iteams .

our team consists of members having significant amount of experience on their respective sectors,  

Adhiraj Mohapatra Founder of Urban Hyphae ( has research experience on fungi and mycology )

Vivek Kumar Singh (Co-Founder )has experience in marketing and Brand Promotion and growth .

Divyanshu Dipta Khuntia ( Co founder) has experience in operation management and dealer connect .

yes ,we have built some initial prototypes and self using it .

We are in talks with government labs to test and validate our material .

popularize fungi biomaterials make people aware and attracted to use it and become ecofriendly. 

We are developing a process of aggregating the fungal mycelium in a specific designed growth mould under controlled condition resulting in the production of excess hyphal networks resulting in union of mycelium stacks into a single continuous sheet which after extraction can be used as leather as it exhibits properties similar to animal hides. By creating this new material we are able to address the different problems related to managing leather and Agri waste. The leather like material obtained has no allergic effect on human skin where as convectional animal leather containing dimethyl fumarate causes skin allergy when the leather material is wet . The fungi leather colour is white and it can be dyed to any colour using organic colours obtained from plants or other fungi. The biomaterial developed has immense potential in future application not restricting it to be used as leather only but in a wide prospective in different sectors like shipping industry, packaging industry, housing and construction, single use plastic replacement , insulation,etc. Also the spent substrate from which the mushroom(Fungus)leather is obtained acts as better eco friendly replacement of thermocole insulation material . There has been rising trends of using sustainable eco friendly materials in fashion industry which can be full filled by this mushroom(fungus) based leather developed by us. 

utilizing the agriculture wastes can reduce burning it in fields , and provide additional income to the farmers,  also FIR's will not be registered on their names for burning agriculture wastes,  subsequent we can reduce air pollution , also the water bodies nearby the tanneries are heavely contaminated if we could shift them to produce fungi based leathers this issue can be solved as the processes involved in traditional leather making ( excluding bleaching and tanning) are all same in case of fungi leather and insulation sheets .

we are directly and Indirectly fulfilling 9 out of 17 sdgs .

We are developing a process of aggregating the fungal mycelium in a specific designed growth mould under controlled condition resulting in the production of excess hyphal networks resulting in union of mycelium stacks into a single continuous sheet which after extraction can be used as leather as it exhibits properties similar to animal hides. By creating this new material we are able to address the different problems related to managing leather and Agri waste. The leather like material obtained has no allergic effect on human skin where as convectional animal leather containing dimethyl fumarate causes skin allergy when the leather material is wet . The fungi leather colour is white and it can be dyed to any colour using organic colours obtained from plants or other fungi.

3

10 months

Adhiraj Mohapatra Founder,CEO, CTO 70%

Vivek Kumar Singh CMO 15%

Divyanshu Dipta Khuntia 15%

B2B: Initially 80% of the revenue will be generated from B2B and ,

key partners are : leather product manufacturers, fashion

designers, interior designers, corporate gifting startups or

businesses.

B2C : 20% of revenue can be generated via B2C sales and ,

Key partners are : (leather craft makers, local artisans, eco conscious

consumers , vegan community )

one we start our production we will be getting 2 products at one one is leather from fungi and insulation sheets which is the waste after extraction of fungi leather. 

The cost per unit square feet is 100 Indian rupees which gives us arround 70 % margins.