Mylea

Mylea is an eco-friendly leather made from fungi mycelium grown in fibrous agricultural waste like sawdust, sugarcane, and palm oil. 

The fashion industry is one of the top three industries contributing to global warming. Particularly those involved in the production of leather, which not only use animal hide in large numbers but also use toxic chemicals, tanning dyes, stiffeners and modifiers. They are also responsible for carbon emissions and consumption of water and energy. 

The startup Mycotech aims to replace the traditional leather industry with its sustainable, eco-friendly alternative: imitation leather generated from mushrooms. Since 2015 Mycotech empower 4 mushroom farmer group to supply and manufacture the raw material. The production goals in 2021 is to produce 1 million sq ft to serve 0.005% of world leather market, meanwhile we can save 10.6 billion kg of CO2.equal and 30.000 cow as animal hides.

Mycotech takes advantage of the natural tendencies of a fungus to form mycelium. Mycelium is a network of hyphae which constitutes the basic structure of a fungus. At Mycotech, the inspiration to use mycelium comes from traditional Indonesian food: Tempe. Tempe is a soy product generated from controlled fermenting of soybeans in order to bind them into a cake-like form. 

In mushrooms, the mycelial filaments form a strong network. The resultant imitation leather formed has greater tensile strength than traditional leather, making it more durable. Mycelial leather also has better abrasive strength. The raw material for the product comes from mushrooms which grow within 14 days. Additionally, Mycotech uses natural botanical sourced dyes. 

Vegan leather market skyrocketing as designers create animal-friendly fashion. This shifting trends makes synthetic leather market worth USD 45.41 billion by 2025 with CAGR of 7.4% (GVR, 2019). There is a missing gap between animal and synthetic leather and Mycotech's innovation is fulfilling this demand by introducing bio-synthetic leather. 

Mylea has already made an agreement with 15 designers and brands and successfully develop 20 products of leather goods