SQIM MYCELIUM TECHNOLOGY DEMO PLANT (IEU GT2) (EIB-20240894)

Regions
  • Europe and Central Asia
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Countries
  • Italy
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • European Investment Bank (EIB)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Approved
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
U
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Aug 7, 2025
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
SQIM SRL
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Agriculture and Forestry
  • Climate and Environment
  • Construction
  • Industry and Trade
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 17.51 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Currency conversion note:
Bank reported 15
Converted using 2025-08-07 exchange rate.
Loan Amount (USD)
$ 17.51 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Currency conversion note:
Bank reported EUR 15 million
Converted using 2025-08-07 exchange rate.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 39.70 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Currency conversion note:
Bank reported EUR 34 million
Converted using 2025-08-07 exchange rate.
Bank Documents
Other Related Projects
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ EIB website

Updated in EWS Jan 13, 2026

Disclosed by Bank Dec 11, 2025

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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to the EIB, the project will finance capital expenditures (CAPEX) for the industrialization of mycelium-based materials production in Italy. It will also fund research and development activities, along with other expenses for the period 2025–2028, to support the company’s growth.

The aim is to develop innovative biotechnology and biomaterials that make a significant contribution to the objectives of the Green Deal.

The Project is in line with the InvestEU objective of financial support to start-up in the wider bioeconomy sector (Annex II of InvestEU Regulation). It includes deployment of technologies as well as research and development activities contributing to the EU's industrial capabilities and to environmental sustainability in various end-user industries for innovative mycelium-based materials, such as fashion, automotive and interior design/building materials.

The Project supports an innovative company developing sustainable alternatives to traditional and synthetic materials in their respective markets aiming to achieve industrial volumes of high-quality products with a low environmental impact. As such, the Project generates positive environmental and knowledge externalities while addressing market failures linked to the elevated risk exposure in certain sectors due to SQIM's early stage of development.

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.
Private Actors Description
A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

As stated on the company's LinkedIn profile, SQIM co-designs with nature to develop cutting edge technologies and deliver naturally grown products with superior properties, employing fungal mycelium as its engineering and manufacturing platform, and serving its two verticals - EPHEA and MOGU. By matching mycelium based biofabrication processes with Deep Tech & Data-driven Approaches, SQIM’s mycofoundry sets the grounds to design a new material world that is responsibly rooted in generative processes, as it is driven by the desire to literally engage with life and for life.

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - SQIM Srl Client Industry and Trade

Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

No project contacts provided at the time of disclosure.

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit an information request for project information at: https://www.eib.org/en/infocentre/registers/request-form/request-form-default.htm

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF EIB

The EIB Complaints Mechanism is designed to facilitate and handle complaints against the EIB by individuals, organizations or corporations affected by EIB activities. When exercising the right to lodge a complaint against the EIB, any member of the public has access to a two-tier procedure, one internal - the Complaints Mechanism Office - and one external - the European Ombudsman. A complaint can be lodged via a written communication addressed to the Secretary General of the EIB, via email to the dedicated email address: complaints@eib.org, by completing the online complaint form available at the following address: http://www.eib.org/complaints/form via fax or delivered directly to the EIB Complaints Mechanism Division, any EIB local representation office or any EIB staff. For further details, check: http://www.eib.org/attachments/strategies/complaints_mechanism_policy_en.pdf

When dissatisfied with a complaint to the EIB Complaints Mechanism, citizens can then turn towards the European Ombudsman. A memorandum of Understanding has been signed between the EIB and the European Ombudsman establishes that citizens (even outside of the EU if the Ombudsman finds their complaint justified) can turn towards the Ombudsman on issues related to 'maladministration' by the EIB. Note that before going to the Ombudsman, an attempt must be made to resolve the case by contacting the EIB. In addition, the complaint must be made within two years of the date when the facts on which your complaint is based became known to you. You can write to the Ombudsman in any of the languages of the European Union. Additional details, including filing requirements and complaint forms, are available at: http://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/atyourservice/interactiveguide.faces

How it works

How it works