Growing Materials: A Case Study in Scaling from the Lab-Bench to the Marketplace

Ecovative is a biomaterial research and manufacturing company that began in a Rensselaer classroom as a senior capstone project in 2007. Ecovative grows alternatives for conventional plastic foams and resins, which are found in applications ranging from protective packaging to furniture, leveraging the vegetative tissue of mushrooms (mycelium) as a grown glue. In order to meet commercial volumes for Fortune 500 companies, strides were taken early on to develop a scalable, solid-state fermentation system to grow custom molded shapes. This process continues to evolve as new scale challenges are met to enter different markets, but the design philosophy has remained constant; grow more material with less complexity and cost.