Mycocycle lands oversubscribed $3.6 million Seed extension

In Illinois, Mycocycle, a nature-inspired, woman-owned biotechnology company that uses fungi to transform organic waste into reusable materials, announced an oversubscribed $3.6 million Seed extension. Closed Loop Partners’ Ventures Group led the round with follow-on investment from the TELUS Pollinator Fund for Good and participation from U.S. Venture, Inc. and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity INVENT Fund.

The funding brings Mycocycle to $7.3 million raised to date and follows the company’s announcement of a $2.2 million Seed round one year ago.

Mycocycle will use the funding to deepen relationships with existing partners for waste materials, further scale its waste-to-value chain, and make key leadership hires for marketing, technology, and operations teams.

Compared to May 2023, Mycocycle now completes over 10 times as many mycelium-based treatments per month. The company’s bioremediation process blends the treatment with built environment waste (asphalt shingles, rubber, gypsum boards, insulation lining, and old textiles) and transforms it into non-toxic, high-quality raw materials.

This circular waste-to-value system diverts some of the roughly 145 million tons of construction debris sent annually to landfills and decarbonizes a sector responsible for nearly a third of annual U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.