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Mushroom-Based Leather Producer Secures $60 Million Series D Funding

Rachel Deeley

31 March 2021

Ecovative, which creates textiles and other products from the root structure of mushrooms known as mycelium, received funding from Viking Global Investors as well as existing investors Senator Investment Group, Trousdale Ventures and AiiM Partners. Ecovative said the funding, which brings total capital raised to $100 million, will be used to further research and development at its “Mycelium Foundry” and increase production capacity.

This investment comes at a time of increasing interest in sustainable leather alternatives — particularly mycelium — across the industry. Earlier this month, it was revealed that Hermès exclusively partnered with mycelium start-up MycoWorks, which had secured $45 million in Series B funding last year. Stella McCartney also announced the launch of products containing Mylo, a mycelium material developed by Bolt Threads, with other “Mylo Consortium” members including Adidas, Lululemon and Kering expected to follow suit this year.

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