UPGRAIN: Upcycling Ukrainian Biomass into High-Performance Mycelium Leatherbroad
Mycelia Tech · Horizon Europe grant · 2026-08-01–2029-07-31
EC contribution
Total cost
Beneficiaries
About the data
Source: CORDIS (official EU open data), Horizon Europe. Framework HORIZON · call HORIZON-EIC-2025-UKRAINIANTECH-01 · scheme HORIZON-EIC · topic HORIZON-EIC-2025-UKRAINIANTECH-01. CORDIS record →
Objective
Mycelia Tech develops a next-generation, mycelium-based leather alternative that is sustainable, affordable and scalable for the European furniture, fashion and automobile industries. Today, bio-based materials remain costly, inconsistent and difficult to scale beyond small pilot volumes, limiting industry adoption. Mycelia Tech addresses this gap by combining optimised fungal strains, low-cost agro-industrial by-products and an AI-assisted quality-control process to produce durable, high-performance sheets at a competitive cost.The project aims to advance the technology from TRL 4 to TRL 6, validate industrial performance, and prepare the company for commercial scale-up and investment. Over 36 months, the project will: (1) optimise strains and substrate formulations; (2) build and validate a pilot production line capable of 50–300 m²/month; (3) conduct full mechanical, chemical and environmental testing; (4) perform market validation with manufacturers; (5) file a European patent and complete an investment-ready business plan; and (6) develop a scale-up roadmap aligned with EU sustainability priorities.The work will be delivered through six work packages covering R&D, pilot-line development, material testing, customer pilots, IP and business validation, and project management. Expected outcomes include a reproducible, market-ready material meeting industrial KPIs; verified environmental advantages; early customer commitments; and a clear exploitation and scale-up pathway.The project directly contributes to the work programme by strengthening Ukraine’s deep-tech ecosystem, accelerating a climate-positive materials innovation, and enabling new economic opportunities. It supports EU strategic autonomy by reducing dependency on carbon-intensive animal and synthetic leather supply chains and by positioning a Ukrainian SME for integration into European value chains.
Beneficiaries (1)
| Organisation | Country | Role | EC contribution | SME |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY MYCELIA TECH | UA | coordinator | €400,000 | Yes |
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