30-07-2025
Pune Inc: How a Pune engineer started growing this wonder mushroom, a perfect energy booster for wrestlers and fitness buffs
Every day, startup founder Shailesh Modak dresses like a scientist who deals with sensitive cultures that must not be contaminated. Only after he is gloved and masked does Modak cross the threshold to meet his new enterprise: a form of mushroom, called Cordyceps, which grows in the Himalayas and is believed to provide the kind of energy boost that the body demands after an intense workout.
'An added advantage is that it is vegetarian,' says Modak, the founder of Pune-based 365Dfarms.
Modak is an IT engineer who transitioned into entrepreneurship, exploring various ventures including beekeeping, hydroponic farming of leafy vegetables, strawberries, and microgreens, as well as saffron agriculture. He considered growing Cordyceps as a solution to an issue he faced: he had empty shipping containers from his saffron business. Moreover, Cordyceps militaris has a market value of Rs 1 lakh per kg.
'The shipping containers were of no use. Woh pahle se aise pada rahata tha (These used to be just lying around). We needed to grow a different crop. We were searching for an idea when we came across Cordyceps mushrooms. This is a one-of-a-kind fungus. I trained from IISER Solan in growing this mushroom,' he says.
Cordyceps seemed ideal for a farm business that was looking for quick production and high turnover. Unlike the button mushrooms that are ubiquitous in the markets and must be consumed within a couple of days, the Cordyceps can be dried and stocked for up to one-and-a-half years.
Though it has not been marketed well, especially in Maharashtra, Cordyceps is seeing a rise in awareness and market size. 'The first clients that we are targeting is the wrestling hub near Warje. The wrestling community knows about this a lot because it is being used in Haryana. The Indian government has started promoting the Cordyceps because this is a natural dopamine,' says Modak.
He has been researching, studying, failing and tweaking for 10 months. Only last month, he cracked it and got his first harvest. He is reaping his second harvest at present. 'Our setup capacity is 12 to 14 kg per cycle, that is two-and-a-half months,' he says.
At a modest estimate, Modak expects a revenue of Rs 12 lakh from the mushrooms per annum. 'The main issue is marketing. The customer has to be made aware,' he says.
The book Herbal Medicine: Biomolecular and Clinical Aspects, featured by the National Library of Medicine of the United States government, states, 'Since 1964, only Cordyceps sinensis has been recorded officially as a herbal drug in Chinese pharmacopoeia.' Cordyceps sinensis, known as Dongchongxiacao (winter-worm summer-grass) in Chinese, is one of the most famous traditional Chinese medicines and medicinal mushrooms, the book says.
Dipanita Nath is interested in the climate crisis and sustainability. She has written extensively on social trends, heritage, theatre and startups. She has worked with major news organizations such as Hindustan Times, The Times of India and Mint. ... Read More
