Kääpä Biotech: Nature-Inspired Medicinal Mushrooms

“We solve the same problems as regular technology companies. We just look to nature for our inspiration and answers” – Eric Puro

Founded in 2018, Finland’s Award-Winning medicinal fungus growing company, Kääpä Biotech, is the largest in Europe. It was started by Eric Puro following a discussion in his home sauna with two friends, one of whom was a mycologist (1).  Eric, a 2009 graduate in Economics from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University and an ex-corporate consultant turned biohacker (2), was growing mushrooms in his home in Finland. Following the discussion he had with them, they started to experiment in the cultivation of mushrooms, and soon they were joined by two other friends, taking Eric’s initial mushroom cultivation to a new level.  When a marketing expert, Otso Mursula, joined them, the venture began to develop around the idea of mushroom biotechnology. So today Kääpä is not just the largest chaga mushroom (3) cultivator in the world, working with the Finnish forest owners to grow its mushrooms carbon-free in their forests, but a biotechnology company committed to healthier humans and ecosystems. It researches, innovates, and develops novel solutions with fungi.

The business, which is composed of 4 divisions (Kääpä mushrooms, Nordic mushrooms, Kääpä biotech, and Kääpä Forest), creates medicinal mushroom products such as tinctures and powders, collaborates on research with industry and governments, and supports the local cultivation of medical mushrooms in the forests of Finland. As Eric says, the company tries “to learn from those inherently regenerative (natural) systems that are, by their very nature, sustainable. “Sustainability is one of the company’s fundamental values, along with traceability and its commitment to science. It is a long-term way of thinking, and consequently, the company has evolved into a vertically integrated organisation controlling its supply chain. Its customers can see, therefore, that Kääpä is “holistically looking at the whole ecosystem and really making sure that it is not over-harvested”.

To obtain the “compounds of interest” (COI) from mushrooms safely and efficiently, Kääpä has introduced “ultrasonic assisted extraction technology” and was the first mushroom company to do so. This enabled it to release those compounds that would otherwise be locked in the mushrooms and would pass through the human digestive system. As a result, the company was able to create “industry-leading, potent full-spectrum mushroom extracts” and to sign a distribution agreement with the nutritional supplement company, Nutralliance, to serve the North American market, where demand for high-quality medicinal mushroom products is growing.

In May 2021, Kääpä won the Nutralingredients Start-Up Award, one of an annual set of awards recognising innovation and cutting-edge research in functional foods, dietary supplements, and nutrition. In making the award, the judges recognised that Kääpä had succeeded “in combining innovative processing and high-quality standard assurance with consumer expectations that today’s society considers increasingly important.”. Commenting on the award, Eric acknowledged the contribution of his colleagues and dedicated team and suggested that it was “recognition for our several years’ work and dedication to change the medical mushroom industry standards towards more sustainable and responsible practices”.

Kääpä is a harmonious start-up enterprise in which profit, planet, and people are in harmony. It addresses SDGs 3 (Good Health and Wellbeing), 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), 9 (Industry Innovation and Infrastructure), 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), 13 (Climate Action), 15 (Life on Land), and 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).

Notes

1 A micologist is someone who works with fungi, including mushrooms.

2 A biohacker is someone who is not an official expert or professional scientist who experiments with biological material to improve the condition of their body and mind.

3 Chaga mushrooms grow predominantly on birch trees. They are slow-growing, and it takes 5–9 years before they can be harvested.

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