Founded by Adam Shamsudeen and Raeesa Manaal in 2022, GrowtheFunGuy is a mushroom agri-tech startup that offers the best quality materials for growing your mushrooms at home.

Adam Shamsudeen was living a comfortable life in Saudi Arabia with his parents until his father, an engineer, had a major heart attack when Adam was in 11th grade. The entire family returned to Kerala, India, for his treatment.

"My father could not work post-heart attack, so we had to take loans to survive," said Adam during an exclusive conversation with Startup Pedia.

He graduated with a BTech in computer science and then joined Saama Technologies, where he worked in the pharma domain for four years. During this time, he learned about the process of making medicine, leading him to realize that "it's better to work on prevention than curing people with a healthy lifestyle," Adam told Startup Pedia.

While researching how to live a healthy life, Adam discovered the benefits of adding mushrooms to one's diet. Hence, Adam, along with his engineering-turned-entrepreneur wife- Raeesa Manaal, embarked on a mission to improve people's health with mushrooms under their brand 'Grow The Funguy.'

The agri-tech startup launched its first product, a user-friendly mushroom grow kit priced at Rs 699, which happens to be a game-changer. This innovative kit allowed anyone to cultivate fresh and organic mushrooms at home with minimal effort. The concept resonated with customers, and soon, the company was expanding its offerings.

Then came the invention of "Mushpellets"-Adam's brainchild. These pelletized mediums, entirely organic, drastically simplified the mushroom-growing process for farmers.

“Farmers can just pour hot water and put the seed. The mushroom grows without any further effort,” co-founder Raeesa explained to Startup Pedia.

Mushpellets became a runaway success, not only propelling the startup's revenue but also earning the co-founders a trademark and establishing them as pioneers in the Indian market.

The co-founder added, "Our innovative Mushpellets has helped the farmers generate Rs. 6 crore revenue so far."

The product line of Grow The Funguy has since diversified to include a range of mushroom-based supplements, DIY kits for aspiring mushroom farmers, and exotic mushroom varieties like Lion's Mane and Reishi.

The first year was challenging for the startup as they generated just Rs. 2-3 lakh in revenue. But in FY24, the mushroom brand crossed Rs 1 crore in revenue.

The brand has received various funding and grants, including initial support from the Kerala Startup Mission and other government programs that support agriculture-related startups. In total, they have secured Rs. 3 lakh in funding and grants from