Back In Action

I’m breathing life into this newsletter again. For anyone following my journey, the last few months have been pretty incredible.

Here are the highlights in a nutshell, followed by an outline of the pivot this newsletter will be making to ensure it’s worth my time and yours.

I gave keynotes at conferences in Hungary, India and The Netherlands, was on a panel at a conference in England, published my first and second articles in High Times, published an article about the Indian cannabis sacrament Bhang for GreenState, wrote about a cannabis friendly ‘micronation’ in Denmark for Beard Bros, did an underground mushroom market product review for Lucid News, released another 8 podcasts, and consistently pumped out satire content to the tune of around 4 million views across social channels. This output came entirely while on the road across 10 countries.

I could go down a rabbit hole about the other stuff I did in between, like ride a bicycle around Copenhagen on LSD with two of my best friends, or see Bjork in Paris with my wife, or stay in one of the world’s nicest hotels (The Taj in Mumbai) etc. - but I’m ready to get back in action here and write about mushroom entrepreneurs.

I roll deep with mushroom products when I’m traveling, and I maintain a daily supplement regiment while at home as well. Regularly ingesting different functional and medicinal mushrooms is a huge benefit to one’s health; a mushroom regiment is both a preventative measure and a remediating response to the pressures and stressors of life and the demands of work, travel, and 8 day parties at festivals.

One particular brand I was very impressed with re: potency and immediate immunity boosting effect is Hamilton’s Mushrooms. I had the Chaga-Reishi-Cordyceps Turkey Tail ‘Body Blend’ mix and the Lucid Lion’s Mane powdered extracts with me on this last three month trip and the potency and effectiveness of these mushroom extracts knocked my socks off. I’ve had Hamilton on the podcast twice and this was the first time I’ve had a chance to try one of his products, but it won’t be the last.

I also carried Mycroboost supplements with me around the world. They’ve been a mainstay in my supplement regiment and on my travel itineraries with me for about 8 months now. The mushroom coffee, fruiting body functional mushroom gummies, and soft gel capsules they produce are all vital components of my personal wellness habits and routine.

It’s always been the guiding ethos of Mycopreneur that mushroom entrepreneurs will solve the biggest problems of the 21st Century. We need problem solvers more than ever right now, and I want to help build the infrastructure to connect and empower people solving problems with mushrooms.

In the spirit of shining a light on some quality underground brands, this week I wrote a review of some underground psilocybin mushroom products for Lucid News.

The broader potential of mushrooms beyond food and medicine is just getting underway. Mushroom leather manufacturer Mycoworks just opened their industrial scale manufacturing plant in South Carolina and is making inroads into the world of high fashion, as demonstrated by the appearance of their (mushroom leather) tote bag on the red carpet at LA Fashion Week a few days ago.

In Serbia, Soma Bioworks is manufacturing a patented mycomaterial called Biosporin as a biodegradable substitute to expanded polystyrene. New Environmental Policy guidelines announced by the European Commission in November 2022 stipulate that all packaging in the European market must be fully recyclable by 2030. This bodes well for companies like Soma Bioworks who are positioned well ahead of the curve on this and who already have a footprint in the mycomaterials space.

In Finland, KÄÄPÄ Biotech just closed a multimillion Euro financing round and is scaling their impressive operation which already supplies Chaga, Lion’s Mane, Reishi, Shiitake and more to 110 supplement brands across Europe. They also have a Forestry division that focuses on broader applications of ‘Mycological Biotech’. I had a chance to hang out with their CEO Eric Puro at the Biohacker Summit in Amsterdam, and my immune system is currently being fortified by a macrodose of KÄÄPÄ Chaga tincture right now. 

In India, Nuvedo is spearheading the mushroom revolution in a country of over 1.5 billion people. They aspire to be the #1 provider of mushroom supplements in India by 2025, and are combatting societal stigmas around mushrooms by undertaking educational initiatives and organizing conferences such as Shroom Sabha, which I was very honored to speak at in September and to write about for High Times.

The world can obviously be a much better place than it is today, and it’s my perspective that a partnership between humanity and fungi can bring about a prosperous and meaningful future for global society. Mushrooms are allies to humanity on the individual and collective scale, and the more people who are empowered to recognize and act upon this lifeline, the better off people and planet will be.

Now that I’m semi-recovered from jet lag, it’s back to work helping to spread the spores and platform mushroom entrepreneurs around the world. I firmly believe that it’s better to create the future than to standby and let others decide it for us; and when we create the future in partnership with mushrooms, the universe is the limit.