Mykor secures £4 million to scale low-carbon construction systems grown from industrial waste

Bristol, 27 May 2026: Mykor, a biotechnology company transforming industrial and agricultural waste into scalable low-carbon construction products, has secured £4 million in funding to accelerate the scale-up of its industrial biofabrication technologies. The round was led by Clean Growth Fund, with participation from the British Business Bank’s South Investment Fund via The FSE Group, Green Angel Ventures, and support from Innovate UK’s investor partnership programme. The latest raise brings total funding secured by the company to £7.5 million.

The built environment accounts for approximately 39% of global emissions, with around 11% from embodied carbon in materials and a further 28% from operational energy use. Insulation plays a critical role in reducing operational carbon, yet conventional insulation materials are non-renewable, high-carbon and often combustible. As whole-life carbon assessments become standard, developers and contractors are under increasing pressure to reduce both embodied and operational emissions from buildings simultaneously.

Mykor has focused on solving the industrialisation challenge: how to manufacture low-carbon construction materials cost-effectively at commercial scale while meeting the fire, acoustic and performance standards required by mainstream construction. Rather than extracting finite raw materials that can take centuries or millennia to form, Mykor’s biofabrication process grows construction products from agricultural and industrial waste streams within days.

The company’s proprietary technologies combine engineered mycelium strains, green chemistry additives and closed-loop automated manufacturing processes to produce an expanding portfolio of construction products; from prefabricated walls to cavity wall insulation. Rather than operating as a single-product manufacturer, Mykor works as a technology and process platform, enabling contractors and manufacturers to integrate low-carbon biomaterials directly into existing production lines and construction systems. This model allows the company to scale through existing industrial infrastructure rather than relying solely on centralised manufacturing.

Mykor’s first product to market, MykoSIP, a preassembled partition wall, achieves an estimated carbon saving of ~23kgCO₂e per m² compared to incumbent systems, equating to at least 50% carbon savings and higher when accounting for biogenic carbon storage, while maintaining comparable thermal and acoustic performance. The system is designed to reduce embodied and operational carbon without compromising on fire safety, cost, buildability or product performance. Additionally, the panels use 90% less water and 40% less electricity than their polystyrene counterparts. Mould-free and breathable, they also don’t emit toxins as they degrade like synthetic insulation products.

The company is already delivering live construction projects and has secured significant commercial traction, including two large offtake agreements worth £338 million with UK and European contractors. The funding will support the scale-up of production, establishing a replicable model for deploying manufacturing capacity across key markets.

As building standards tighten, materials are becoming a critical constraint; the UK Government’s Future Homes Standard, requiring all new homes to be highly energy efficient from 2027, and the ongoing implementation of the EU’s Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, mandating zero-emission new buildings and large-scale retrofit. Mykor’s technologies allow contractors and developers to meet these requirements while maintaining performance, cost-effectiveness, and buildability. 

Image 1: The Founders - Valentina Dipietro, COO (left) & Olivia Page, CEO (right)
Image 2: MykoSIP - The Flagship Product 

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Olivia Page, CEO and Co-founder of Mykor, said:

“We’ve built Mykor around the idea that decarbonising construction cannot come at the expense of cost, performance or practicality. The challenge has never just been inventing a biomaterial — it’s been manufacturing these systems at industrial scale and integrating them into real construction supply chains. This funding allows us to scale that model further alongside major contractors and manufacturing partners globally. We’re very pleased to be working with investors who understand both the urgency of the problem and the scale of the opportunity ahead”

Susannah McClintock, Investment Partner at Clean Growth Fund, said:
"Mykor addresses one of construction's most pressing challenges: reducing embodied carbon without adding cost or complexity. Their solution integrates seamlessly into existing building practices and is cost-competitive with conventional materials — delivering meaningful carbon savings without adding cost. We 're delighted to support this exceptional team as they scale commercially “

Anna Staevska, Investment Manager at The FSE Group added: “We’re delighted to provide this investment from the South West Investment Fund to support genuinely breakthrough materials science in the delivery of meaningful carbon reductions. With strong commercial interest already in place and a clear plan to scale production, Mykor is well-positioned to play a significant role in decarbonising the built environment while building a high-growth, internationally relevant business.”

Surakat Kudehinbu, Senior Investment Executive at Green Angel Ventures, said: "We have been consistently impressed by Olivia, Valentina, and the entire Mykor team’s progress and their dedication to transforming how we build. Their innovative approach to bio-based insulation is exactly the kind of disruptive technology needed to decarbonise the built environment. Green Angel Ventures is delighted to provide this follow-on funding to help Mykor scale its production and meet the growing demand from the construction industry."