Startup pitches containerized mushroom farms to add value to Georgia agricultural residues

Myco Logic cofounder Chris Cornelison told the Georgia House Small Business Development Committee that his company has developed a containerized system designed to automate specialty mushroom cultivation and convert agricultural residues — including cotton gin trash and spent peanut hulls — into mushroom substrate.

Cornelison said the firm’s product is a converted 40-foot shipping container that controls humidity, carbon dioxide and temperature and links those environmental controls to a software platform tuned to individual mushroom varieties. “We’re optimized for mushrooms,” he said. “We are precise, so we’re actually taking data from the research laboratory and integrating that into our product offerings.”

The company told the committee it currently supports more than 23 edible and medicinal mushroom varieties and has delivered its first commercial units in the past few months. Cornelison said one Georgia pilot grower, identified in testimony as Gowan Valley Farms near Dalton, retooled from produce to mushrooms after receiving a unit through a pilot program and now reports producing more than 15,000 pounds a year with two employees and “over $200,000 a year in revenue” from mushroom sales.

Cornelison and the presentation materials traced the project’s development to competitive grants and business support. He described federal Specialty Crop Block Grant funding administered by the Georgia Department of Agriculture, awards from the Georgia Research Alliance, and assistance from Georgia Centers of Innovation and an ag/food-tech accelerator. He also noted a third-place finish in a New York business competition that included a $250,000 SAFE note administered by Cornell University and said those resources helped the company recruit growers and run pilots.

Committee members asked technical and business questions. Chairman Tom asked whether mushrooms start from a spore or seed; Cornelison answered, “A spore.” Chairman Yoda asked about the module price; Cornelison said the 40-foot unit is offered at $127,000. He also told the committee that, based on pilot data and wholesale pricing models, a well-run unit could produce roughly $270,000 in annual mushroom revenue if operated at capacity.

Cornelison described training and onboarding services the company provides to growers to reduce the expertise barrier and said the technology reduces labor through automation and automated sanitation systems. He emphasized the potential for local economic development from producing specialty mushrooms domestically and recycling abundant state agricultural byproducts.

Committee members indicated interest and asked for follow-ups on local grower contacts and financing options. Cornelison said Georgia Farm Credit has been receptive to treating the container units as farm infrastructure for lending.

While the presentation included projected yields and revenue modeled from pilot data, the company did not present a committee-adopted budget or a formal request for state funding during this session. Cornelison invited questions and offered to provide additional pilot data to committee staff.