GREEN ISLAND, N.Y.- In an SEC filing, Ecovative Design says investors put $4 million into its efforts to use mushroom-derived adhesives in place of plastic polymers to produce plywood, MDF and other engineered panel for furniture and architectural applications.  

Ecovative Design has made a mission of replacing synthetic plastic polymers with natural mushroom based polymers, called mycellium. First used in packaging and OSB-alternatives, its latest developments would replace plywood in furniture.

One early adopter of Myco Board is Gunlocke Furniture, which has incorporated it the Savor Guest Seating, for the outside seat back. Gunlocke and Ecovative worked together throughout the design and development process until a solution was reached.

Today, Ecovative is manufacturing the outside seat backs for Gunlocke using its revolutionary Myco Board technology. Savor is the first product in the furniture industry to use this Cradle-to-Cradle Gold Certified Material.

Another product using the mycellium-based technology was adopted by Steelcase in 2011 as part of its environmental initiative. EcoCradle packaging, made from cottonseed hulls and plant roots, is used by Steelcase to package casegoods. It composts in 45 days and is made from crop waste and the same mushroom root-based mycellium.

Saint-Gobain named Evocative a prize winner in its 2015 Nova Innovation competition for the Myco Board development. The bio-based material is formaldehyde free.   

Ecovative first opened its manufacturing plant for the EcoCradle packaging products in Green Island, New York, in June 2012. It is the world's first packaging facility that manufactures packaging material using mushrooms. The facility also has a research lab and office within the production building where work on the engineered wood applications has continued.

Ecovative was highlighted in January by the head of the U.S. Small Business Administration during a NASDAQ closing bell ceremony:

Another SBIR firm has invented a biodegradable substitute for Styrofoam. Ecovative uses agricultural waste, mixed with a component of mushrooms, to make sustainable plastics and sustainable furniture. If you throw away Styrofoam, it goes to the landfill. Five hundred years later, it will still be there.  Throw Ecovative’s material into a landfill, and it will compost. From it, new life could grow. It’s already being used by Dell as a green alternative to ship their products. Ecovative isn’t based in Silicon Valley. The company is breathing new life into the smallest town in New York, upstate Green lsland. It was once home to a railroad car factory and a Ford parts plant.  Gavin McIntyre and his friend made their discovery while studying at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy. SBIR helped America find these two innovators in places Wall Street often forgets to look.  Gavin: Thank you for your vision, and congratulations to you and Eben on your success.