Northspore

North Spore is a mushroom cultivation and wellness company headquartered in Portland, Maine, with an additional listed location at 90 Bridge Street in Westbrook, Maine. The company produces sawdust, plug and grain spawn for commercial and hobbyist growers, along with introductory mushroom grow kits, sterile substrates, cultures, fruiting blocks, grow chambers such as monotubs and 'Martha' tents, lab supplies and foraging tools. Product lines include 'Spray & Grow' countertop kits, 'Plant & Grow' outdoor garden starter blocks, log kits, the 'Boomr Bin' monotub kit and the 'BoomRoom II' automated tent system, with retail prices ranging from roughly $19.99 for plug spawn to $479.99 for the automated grow system.

Alongside cultivation supplies, North Spore sells a functional mushroom wellness line consisting of USDA-certified organic, dual-extracted tinctures, capsules, mushroom coffee and mushroom chocolate, formulated using fruiting body extracts. Species featured across the catalog include lion's mane, shiitake, oyster varieties (blue, pink, snow, black king, Italian, golden), king trumpet, pioppino, blewit, wine cap, morel, reishi, chaga and cordyceps.

The company operates a vertically integrated facility that it says produces 100% of its spawn, sterile substrates, cultures and kits, staffed by mycologists leading research and development and lab technicians overseeing production, an in-house laboratory and an in-house culture bank. North Spore also runs an education program spanning a blog ("The Black Trumpet Blog"), a YouTube channel, research partnerships supplying cultures, spawn and substrates to academic and citizen-science projects, and a mycology scholarship.

Founding story

North Spore was launched in 2014 by three college friends: Eliah Thanhauser, an organic farmer; Matt McInnis, a photojournalist; and Jon Carver, a mycologist. McInnis's interest in fungi began in his late teens while attending College of the Atlantic on Mount Desert Island, Maine, where he learned about edible fungi and wild foods from chefs he worked with; chanterelles were the first species he learned to forage. Two college friends independently developed similar interests, and when the three reconvened several years after graduation wanting to start a business together, fungi became their common ground. A shared enthusiasm for foraging and cultivation led to the creation of an urban mushroom farm in Portland, Maine.

Business model

North Spore sells physical goods directly to consumers and growers through its e-commerce site, spanning cultivation inputs (spawn, substrates, cultures, kits, equipment) and consumer wellness products (tinctures, capsules, coffee, chocolate). It manufactures its own spawn, substrates, cultures and kits in a vertically integrated facility rather than sourcing them from third parties. The business originally operated as an urban farm selling fresh oyster mushrooms directly to consumers before shifting from a grower model to a supplier model.

Revenue comes from direct online product sales of mushroom growing supplies, equipment and functional mushroom supplements, supported by policies including free shipping on orders over $199, a 30-day return window, and a replacement guarantee for damaged, contaminated or unusable products.

Traction

The company reports more than 350,000 customers. Its site lists hundreds of product reviews on individual items (for example 423 reviews on the Lion's Mane 'Spray & Grow' kit and 193 on the 'Boomr Bin' monotub kit). Third-party data lists the company at 21-50 employees. The 2025 Series A was described as supporting growth through job creation with benefits and advancement opportunities in Portland, Maine.

Latest developments

In October 2025 North Spore closed a $2.65 million Series A round including CEI Ventures, Maine Venture Fund, Maine Technology Institute and mission-aligned angel investors; prior to this the company had bootstrapped with debt and had not raised equity. The company announced a mycology scholarship for 2026 supporting students in the field, and continues to publish growing guides and product content on its blog.