Fungal Biotechnology & Natural Dyes - Ricky Cassini

Meet Michroma — an innovative startup from Indie Bio making natural food and cosmetic dyes from fungi! We are joined by co-founder Ricky Cassini, a young entrepreneur and newfound scientist to talk about Michroma's projects and how impactful this research and development is for industrial colorants. Ricky shares some intriguing insights to their process of working with filamentous fungi and how the team is optimizing their methods for a safe, effective and versatile dye. We also discuss the culture and the hurdles of being a biotechnology startup, followed by our two sense for fellow up and coming businesses. Prepare to be amazed once again at the practical applications of fungi in crevices of our day to day lives.
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Ricky Cassini is the CEO and co-founder of Michroma, based in Argentina. The Michroma Team went through Indie Bio’s accelerator program and focuses on creating naturally derived colorants from fungi.

Topics covered

• Synthetic and natural dyes that are problematic for human health and/or the environment
• Startup culture, specifically with biotech companies
• Pigmented metabolites of fungi and how to induce them
• Harvesting and application of fungal pigments
• The science history of fungal pigments
• The uniqueness of filamentous fungi as opposed to the yeast-like fungi currently used in fungal biotechnology

Show notes
Michroma's Website: https://michroma.co/
Medium Article: https://medium.com/indiebio-sf/michroma-reinventing-food-colors-3cc5ee99f92f


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