Sesame Summit 2026 – application open

Mushroom Material: The Future of Sustainable Packaging

Mushroom Material is transforming the packaging industry with its eco-friendly alternative to styrofoam. “Our material matches the properties of styrofoam for impact resistance, as well as thermal and acoustic insulation while being 100% sustainable and home compostable,” explains Mushroom Material’s CEO, Shaun Seaman. This breakthrough technology, derived from mushrooms, positions Mushroom Material to meet the growing demand for sustainable packaging solutions. Using their industry-first pellet method, they can scale production using existing molding machinery, ensuring seamless integration into current supply chains.

Mushroom Material
📸: Mushroom Material

From Skepticism to Finalist

Mushroom Material’s rise to becoming a finalist in JEC World’s 2023 Startup Booster competition was unexpected. “Honestly, I don’t remember hearing about the competition. I was applying for anything and everything at the time,” Seaman says. Initially doubtful about the relevance of this particular competition, the team soon realized the value of the opportunity. Attending JEC World turned out to be a game-changer. “It’s been the best event I’ve attended, with excellent organization, massive exposure, and impactful 1-on-1 meetings,” Seaman confirms.

Overcoming Stage Fright

The pressure of presenting at a major event like JEC World can be daunting, especially for first-time participants. “This was my first real event, so it was very intimidating,” admits Seaman. However, with the support of the JEC World team, the experience was smooth. “Huge thanks to the team—they’re fantastic people and looked after us.” Despite the nerves, the pitch led to significant connections and opportunities, proving the competition’s value to their business.

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Pro Tips for JEC World 2025 Participants

Reflecting on their experience, Mushroom Material’s founder offers advice for future participants in JEC World’s Startup Booster competition: “Make sure you have more than one person! We were overwhelmed by the number of people who wanted to connect with us after our presentation.” Bringing a team to manage networking is crucial to making the most of the event. “If I were to do it again, I’d bring one or two more people with me,” he suggests, emphasizing the importance of leveraging the networking opportunities.

JEC World’s Impact on Mushroom Material

One of the most memorable moments for Mushroom Material was realizing the scale of JEC World 2023. “The event was bigger than anything New Zealand has to offer,” Seaman shares. The global exposure and the opportunity to network with industry leaders were both humbling and exciting. “It was wildly memorable and had a significant impact on us,” he says, reinforcing the importance of attending international events like JEC World for startups looking to scale.

The Future of Mushroom Material in Sustainable Packaging

As Mushroom Material continues to grow, the company has big plans for the future. “Styrofoam is out, Mushroom Material is in. We’ll be the new household name. Watch this space,” Seaman says. With a focus on innovation and sustainability, Mushroom Material is poised to lead the next wave of sustainable packaging in the composites industry. Over the next five years, they aim to become a key player in replacing styrofoam with environmentally friendly, compostable alternatives.


Ready to take your startup to the next level? Apply for JEC World’s 2025 Startup Booster competition before the final deadline on October 28th. Don’t miss this opportunity to gain exposure, mentorship, and investment!

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Events 2 days ago

Last week, I spent three days at Bits and Pretzels in Munich — a startup-focused event with a distinctly Bavarian flavor. Think Oktoberfest meets startup conference, complete with dirndls, lederhosen, and more beer than you might expect. As someone building an AI-powered event platform, I went in with a specific mission: Observe how startups actually market themselves at events. Here’s what I discovered: GoodBytz: The power of good demos What they did: Robotics startup GoodBytz set up a booth where its robots prepared kaiserschmarrn (a traditional German dessert) all day long. Why it worked: Nothing beats seeing a product in action. While other booths had brochures and demos, GoodBytz’s robots were actually cooking. The smell, the movement and the end result stirred together an experience that people will remember and talk about. The lesson: If you have a physical product, show it in action. The old writing adage generalizes well: Show, don’t tell.  Let people see, hear and touch the product. WeRoad: The bathroom hack What they did: Posted “Missing Investor” flyers in bathroom stalls with QR codes pointing to their website. Why it worked: Pure genius. Every startup at the event was looking for investors, but the “Missing Investor” headline, while a bit on the nose, proved irresistible. Plus, bathroom stalls are one of the few places where people have 30 seconds to actually read something. The lesson: Think about where your target audience’s attention will remain undivided. Sometimes, the most effective marketing leverages the most unexpected places. Emqopter: Visual impact matters What they did: Designed a bright orange booth that displayed their drone prominently. Why it worked: In a sea of grey, white, beige and brown, Emqopter’s bright orange booth was impossible to overlook. The drone was real, too, and proved a real conversation starter. The lesson: Your booth is competing with hundreds of others. Make it visually distinctive and ensure your product is the hero. Quests: Community building using the product What they did: Created a busy, branded booth with accessories (toy car, traffic cones, a bulletin board) and used their anti-loneliness app to build communities among founders at the event. Why it worked: Quests used their product to solve a real problem right at the event, and the busy booth design generated energy and curiosity. The lesson: Use your product to solve a problem at the event — if it’s possible, of course. Demonstrate your value in real time. Dyno: Event-themed marketing What they did: Distributed branded electrolyte packs with the tagline “Your hangover ends. Your pension lasts – with Dyno.” Why it worked: Dyno aligned its messaging perfectly with the Oktoberfest theme. Every attendee was thinking about beer and hangovers, so Dyno’s goodies were quite relevant. The tagline was clever, memorable, and directly addressed a pain point most people at the event might have to deal with later. The lesson: Tailor your marketing to the event’s theme and culture. The more you tie your messaging and product to the context, the more memorable you become. So, what did I learn? Event marketing is about more than just showing up and setting up a booth; you have to understand your audience and create experiences that people will remember. Here’s what really struck me: most startups and even big companies don’t know how to leverage events properly. They book the booth, show up and hope for the best; maybe they bring some branded pens and a pop-up banner. Then they’ll go back home and wonder why they spent €5,000 in exchange for 50 business cards that never convert. The startups that stood out at Bits and Pretzels understand something fundamental: event ROI isn’t about booth size or location; it’s about strategy, creativity and planning. None of the startups above improvised on-site, or planned something the night before the event in their hotel rooms. They laid everything out 4-6 weeks before the event. A solid pre-event strategy is what separates successful event marketing from expensive booth rental.  But what matters most for early-stage startups is that you don’t need a massive budget to stand out. WeRoad’s bathroom stall hack probably cost €50 to print the flyers. A standard booth package at Bits and Pretzels would go for €3,000 to €5,500. The ROI difference is staggering when you compare the cost per meaningful conversation. That’s the difference between simply spending money and investing smartly. Building Sesamers has taught me that helping startups find the right events is only half the equation. The other half is helping them understand how to maximize ROI once they’re there. Good props aren’t a marketing expense; they’re opportunities to meet customers, investors and partners, and strike up engaging conversations.

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New Materials 3 days ago

Lios Group, the Irish startup behind SoundBounce, was a winner of JEC Composites Startup Booster 2018, and has been making significant strides since taking home the award.

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New Materials 1 week ago

Tree Composites aims to accelerate the energy transition with innovative composite joints.

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