Bengaluru-based couple Prithvi Kini and Jashid Hameed have developed one-of-a-kind Mushroom DIY kits that enable individuals to grow chemical-free mushrooms effortlessly at home.
The simple DIY kit allows you to cultivate exotic mushrooms — including pink oyster mushrooms, grey oyster mushrooms, and elm oyster mushrooms — in just 10 days.
With their startup Nuvedo, their main objective is to enhance people’s understanding of mushrooms and bring their healing benefits to every Indian household.
The kit which is about arm’s length comprises a cardboard bag containing ragi straw, which has mushroom mycelium growing on it. It serves as the growing medium of the mushroom fungi.
Along with this, the kit also contains a small spray bottle. “You fill the water bottle with drinking water and spray the bag three times a day,” says Prithvi.
“This will provide a moist and humid atmosphere to activate the myceliated substrate. In about 10 days, you will get your first harvest of mushrooms. You can get 500 grams of mushroom in 2-3 harvests from one kit,” she adds.
Recently, they were featured on Shark Tank India Season 3. Although they did not bag a deal, Jashid says, “We were not able to get a deal as sharks wanted to understand the market trend first.”
“They themselves were not really aware of mushrooms because we had to start the pitch by explaining that mushrooms are not plants, they’re fungi,” he adds.
Prithvi says, “But I think we were somewhat successful in being able to break some myths around mushrooms and highlight the healing benefits and properties of our products.”
Anyway, our primary target audience, Jashid says, were people who have some fascination for mushrooms and are open to growing them in their house for consumption.
Priced at Rs 699, the couple has sold these kits to at least 20,000 customers across the country and has found major demand in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, and Pune.