Manchester-based tech start-up Biospheric Studio has received £100,000 from a North West-based angel investor to help kick-start its new mobile mushroom farm, which aims to sell premium fungi directly to the city’s restaurants.
The private sector investment provides a major boost for sustainable food pioneer Vincent Walsh’s Biospheric Studio, which has already lined up several Manchester venues as customers including Tampopo and the Lowry Hotel.
The company’s commercial mushroom farm, housed inside a shipping container and branded SHROOM, will be installed temporarily in Manchester’s Albert Square as part of the 2015 Manchester Food & Drink Festival (MFDF) running between 10 and 25 September. After the festival, the farm will be moved to a permanent location in the city centre.
Biospheric Studio describes SHROOM as Manchester’s first hyperlocal mushroom farm. Walsh and his team are aiming to produce 800kg of premium shitake mushrooms every month.
In addition to the mushroom farm project, which has been informed by five years of PhD research at Walsh’s agricultural laboratory by the River Irwell in Salford, the Biospheric Studio has secured a number of major commissions in Manchester.
These include the design and installation of an aquaponics system at Manchester Museum, the creation of a mobile wholefood store to serve communities in Pendleton, and a series of culinary roof-gardens and compact food production facilities for a range of landlords and property developers in the city.
Walsh said: “The new investment and commissions from the both private and public sector means we already have a solid platform on which we can build. However there is still a long way to go, and we will need to find other progressive, innovative and ambitious partners across Manchester who share our commitment to making a lasting impact on sustainable food production locally. This includes the city’s restaurant and hospitality sectors, whose custom will be key to making projects like the city-centre mushroom farm commercially sustainable in the long run.”
Walsh is also developing a programme of food-related events, workshops, pop-up farms and talks for a number of Manchester’s festivals including MFDF 2015 and next July’s European City of Science and EuroScience Open Forum.
Source: Insidermedia.com
