$700k · Seed · Cleantech · Ankara, Türkiye
M-Based has raised a $700,000 seed round led by the ODTÜ 70th Anniversary Venture Capital Investment Fund, with participation from Elemental Ventures and existing investor Hatcher+. The Ankara-based biomaterials startup will use the capital to move its mushroom-derived material towards industrial-scale production, commercialisation and international growth, according to Dealroom News and Swipeline.
Industrial production is the real product milestone
M-Based's first product, FOMES, is a mushroom-based alternative to animal leather aimed initially at fashion and textiles. The company also identifies automotive and furniture as future markets. That makes this round less about proving that a biomaterial can be made and more about proving that it can be manufactured repeatedly at useful volumes.
For a materials startup, the commercial product is not only the sheet a designer can touch. It is the ability to deliver consistent properties, predictable lead times and enough capacity for a customer to qualify the material for a production line. M-Based now has to turn a research and development result into a supply proposition that buyers can test, specify and reorder. That transition explains why the stated use of funds centres on production and commercialisation rather than another isolated prototype.
A seed round for the factory transition
The financing follows a 2024 pre-seed round backed by Fark Labs, Sente Ventures and Hatcher+, according to the company's Tech.eu Funding Explorer profile. Hatcher+'s return in the seed round gives M-Based continuity as it moves from product development into a more capital-intensive execution phase.
The lead investor is a venture fund built around the Middle East Technical University ecosystem and managed by Maxis. Dealroom News reports that M-Based is the fund's first investment. For the startup, that adds a locally connected backer at the point where access to industrial partners, technical talent and production infrastructure may matter as much as the headline cheque.
The next proof point will be whether FOMES can clear customer qualification and production consistency at the same time. International expansion can widen the pool of potential buyers, but it also raises the bar for dependable supply and specification. If M-Based can make that step, the seed round will have financed the shift from an experimental material to an industrial input.
Sources checked:
Tech.eu Funding Explorer · Dealroom News · Swipeline · ODTÜ 70th Anniversary VC Fund
