STARTUP AWARD

WINNERS

Michroma

1ST PLACE

Argentina- and U.S-based startup Michroma turns fungi into natural food colors and flavors, replacing petrochemicals with sustainable health-forward ingredients.

Few people know that food colors often come from petrochemicals, and even fewer know that fungi can produce natural pigments. Michroma is creating one of the world’s first sustainable platforms for next-generation flavors and colors derived from fungi.

The startup pioneers fungi-based ingredients to replace petroleum-derived food colorings. By producing pigments via precision‑fermented mycelium, they offer a scalable, high-performance alternative to chemical colorings.

Their work meets growing demand for clean-label food while reducing reliance on fossil-derived ingredients and minimizing water and land use compared with conventional pigment production.

We’re honored to win The Future is Fungi Award 2025—the world’s leading recognition dedicated exclusively to fungal innovation. Being selected by a jury that evaluates the most advanced fungi-based technologies validates our approach of using filamentous fungi to build a new generation of natural colorants.

This award strengthens our mission to replace artificial colors with high-performance, fungi-derived alternatives, and it accelerates the scale-up of fungal biofactories as a core solution for a healthier and more sustainable food system, says Ricky Cassini, CEO & Co-founder of Michroma

“Michroma is redefining the future of natural ingredients. While most people still don’t realize that the colors in our food often come from petrochemicals, by proving that fungi can deliver healthier, safer, and truly sustainable food colors & flavorings, Michroma is leading a global shift toward natural ingredients.”
Susanne Gløersen founder and CEO of The Future is Fungi Award.

2ND PLACE

Mycolever

“Few realize how much petrochemicals touch our skin and homes, and how many ‘biobased’ alternatives rely on deforestation. Mycolever is tackling this problem head-on, using fungal biodiversity to create truly sustainable, high-performance ingredients.”
- Susanne Gløersen, founder and CEO The Future is Fungi Award

Explore Mycolever

Hiro Technologies is using plastic-eating fungi to create the world’s first MycoDigestible diapers.

Their diapers use plastic-eating fungi to break down diaper waste in months instead of centuries. By harnessing the power of fungi, they are demonstrating how thoughtful design and nature can work together to create a circular, regenerative future.

3RD PLACE

HIRO Technologies

“Hiro is pioneering a revolutionary way to tackle plastic waste, using specially cultivated fungi to break down diapers in just 9–12 months instead of 400 years. By letting nature do the work, they’re opening the door to solutions for countless other plastic products and showing what’s possible when innovation meets biology.”
- Susanne Gløersen, founder and CEO of The Future is Fungi Award

Learn more about HIRO

Visit The Fungal
Hall of Fame!

Explore the trailblazers

Award Impact at a Glance

187

APPLICANTS

59

COUNTRIES REPRESENTED

37%

ENTRIES CAME FROM EUROPE

AWARD PRIZE

€250 000

Award Investment

Funding

This year we are levelling up. The startup winner will receive an investment of €250-350K to support their journey. The investment is made possible by a collective of forward-thinking investors who are motivated by backing the future of fungi founders.

The startup winner will also access an expert network and fungal fame.

The investment is structured as a SAFE convertible.
There will be one investor on the cap table, The Fungi VC, which is coordinating the investment on behalf of The Future is Fungi Award and the backing investors.
This is an ecosystem investment to back you on the journey. So we have set entrepreneurial friendly terms:

There is no valuation cap, we follow the valuation of your next round.

There is a 10% discount on the valuation in the next equity round (since the next funding round might be further out in time, 6 to 12 months). For normal SAFE rounds, it is often 15-20%, but we want to keep it lower!

Note: The investment will be coordinated as a syndicate, gathering all investors into one syndicated investment. For this, we will use an external syndication platform. The cost of using this external platform (3.5%) will be deducted from the investment before wiring.
The winning startup will be contacted after the jury has identified the winner, to formalize the investment agreement and sign the investment. The winner will then be announced 25th of November.

The SAFE will be wired after the winner is announced.
The investment has been made possible by a collective of private investors with a passion for fungi and the solutions they represent, and they want to back pioneering fungi founders.

ABOUT THE INVESTMENT

The top 3 startups will have 6 months of help from 30-40 different corporates, experts, organisations and research institutions across a variety of sectors to help back them on their journey. Some of the organisations include; L´Oreal, Novonesis, BASF, DSM-Firmenich, Traitomic (Carlsberg Group), Valgo, Westerdjik Fungal Biodiversity Institute, VTT, Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, MNEXT, Sylvan, startup experts (in scaling, regulatory, IP++) and many more. The network runs from January 2026 to June 2026.

ACCESS TO EXPERT NETWORK

GET FUNGAL FAME

The Future is Fungi Award is a lighthouse for pioneering fungal innovators worldwide, and we are here to put the spotlight on the boldest, most innovative trailblazers of fungal entrepreneurs. Get ready to step into the spotlight!

Beyond the award recognition and visibility, the top 3 startups will be featured in, and invited to: