Mushroom Farming Gets AI Boost From Waterloo Startup

Mycro Harvest uses artificial intelligence, and automation to make fungi farming more efficient

By Johanna Weidner Waterloo Region Record

August 1, 2023

Mushrooms can be made into a host of sustainable products, but fungi farming is inefficient and difficult to scale up to meet the market’s potential. A Waterloo startup aims to overcome those issues by employing artificial intelligence to grow mushrooms.

WATERLOO — Mushrooms can be made into a host of sustainable products, but fungi farming is inefficient and difficult to scale up to meet the market’s potential.

But that’s when people grow them.

A local startup aims to overcome those limitations by using artificial intelligence to grow mushrooms. Mycro Harvest recently joined the University of Waterloo’s incubator Velocity to develop an AI-driven mushroom smart farm.

Mushrooms are used to make plant-based meat alternatives, a base for sustainable bioplastics, styrofoam alternatives, vegan leather products and more.

“There are tons of different applications for mushrooms,” said Christopher Klich, co-founder and chief executive officer. “The biggest hurdle is in the production of the raw material. … It’s very time-intensive.”

Mushroom farming now relies heavily on manual labour and inefficient processes that require highly technical knowledge to avoid losing crops.

Mycro Harvest starts with a shipping container and adds affordable automation alongside AI monitoring to grow mushrooms at scale. This allows for constant monitoring, which automatically adjusts conditions to protect crops and boost production while reducing labour costs.

“The environmental conditions are all optimized,” Klich said.

Klich started Mycro Harvest less than a year ago with Justin Cheng, co-founder, chief technical officer and hobby mycologist (someone who works with fungi).

Their approach makes growing mushrooms easy and profitable. A 12-metre (40-foot) container yields 2,270 kilograms (5,000 pounds) in a month, all without intensive monitoring or special expertise.

“Anyone would be able to grow mushrooms in a highly efficient manner,” Klich said.

Mycro Harvest is currently growing specialty mushrooms including oyster, lion’s mane and shiitake, but the hope is to expand to more varieties. Along with producing mushrooms to make sustainable products, the harvests would offer a wider variety at a more affordable price for eating fresh.

Mycro Harvest is running a couple of pilot projects with specialty mushroom growers in Canada. In the next couple of months, it is setting up the first full-size farm in Waterloo.

Johanna Weidner is a Waterloo Region-based reporter focusing on health for the Record. Reach her via email: jweidner@therecord.com

Johanna Weidner
Johanna Weidner is a Waterloo Region-based reporter focusing on health and education for the record