Tesonet triples its investment into the biotechnology startup MISHKAY Biotech

The startup accelerator Tesonet has announced an additional investment into the medicinal and edible mushroom farm MISHKAY Biotech, better known in the Lithuanian market as Pjaunu Grybą.

Having made its first investment in 2023 with a pledge to double it, the accelerator has eventually decided to multiply it three times.

“Growing sustainably, MISHKAY Biotech managed to exceed all expectations and is now facing the pleasant challenge of demand for their products overshooting supply – the result of a bold and evidence-based vision. Our interactions with the broader community of longevity researchers and businesses have clarified for us the importance of support and investment in this vertical. This is a Lithuanian product, created in Lithuania, which makes us proud of the contribution we’re making to its further development by increasing our investment,” said Eimantas Sabaliauskas, co-founder of Tesonet.

The invested funds will be used for completing the construction of an R&D lab and expanding medicinal mushroom production capacities, as well as developing a B2B product line and pursuing innovations.

Tomas Varnas, CEO of MISHKAY Biotech, says that Lithuania and Europe as a whole are currently flooded with low-quality products that rely on Chinese raw materials and differ only in their packaging.

“Even the products of well-known brands are often forged. For instance, just last year Paul Stamets, one of the most famous mycologists in the world (and creator of the massively popular Netflix film Fantastic Fungi), removed 27 Amazon merchants selling forgeries of the supplements made from mushrooms he grows himself. In the same year, Italian researchers sampled 19 different mushroom products made in China and sold in Italian pharmacies. What they found was that only 6 contained the mushrooms indicated on the package. Similar results were also obtained in the case of NAD supplements made in the United States.

We aim to develop science-based products that are actually effective. Having already signed the first contracts with several pharmacies, we’re currently in talks with a couple of universities, and will soon launch our first two products made in collaboration with medical professionals. One for skin health and one for cholesterol control. Biotechnology is an area requiring a tremendous amount of time and investment. We’re very happy to have investors motivating us to forge ahead and making a strong contribution in every other conceivable way. The additional investment will enable us to grow faster,” Tomas Varnas explained.

Pjaunu Grybą, which bases itself on the philosophy of zero-waste, started as a family business. A few months ago, Pjaunu Grybą, MB was restructured into MISHKAY Biotech, UAB.