Fungal-fibre texture grades that give plant-based chicken strips a real bite
TL;DR Threadline grows edible fungal fibre and sells it in graded textures to Indian plant-based meat brands and food manufacturers. They blend it with, or swap it for, the soy and pea protein they use today, to make strips, nuggets and fillets with a muscle-like pull. It is a slow, regulator-gated B2B ingredient play.
India has plenty of plant-based meat brands. GFI India counted 73 smart-protein brands and 143 plant-based meat products, and yet only 10% of surveyed consumers had tried plant-based meat[1]. The ones who stayed away named unfamiliarity, a feeling that the food is artificial, price and a "non-juicy texture"[1].
Texture is the bit an ingredient supplier can actually fix.
Indian brands build mostly on soya, wheat gluten and pea protein, and one leading brand lists exactly those bases[2]. Extruded soy does fine in curries and chunks. It struggles in whole-muscle formats like a fried strip or a grilled fillet, where you tear the piece and expect fibres. High-moisture extrusion does better, but it needs expensive machines that most Indian brands do not own[3].
What it does, in regulatory terms: a food ingredient that needs FSSAI prior approval as a non-specified food before sale, unless its organism and process are already cleared. It makes no health claims.
Threadline grows a food-grade filamentous fungus in solid-state trays, heats the biomass to cut its RNA, then freezes, presses and cuts it to set fibre length and bite[4]. Brands buy by grade - a long-fibre grade for strips and fillets, a short-fibre grade for nuggets and a blending grade that goes into an existing soy or pea mix at 10–30% to add pull without a full reformulation. Every grade ships with a spec sheet for moisture, fibre length and cook loss.
The original idea leaned on engineered strains for "customisable" fibres, which would stack a GM-food review over and above India's novel-food approval. So Threadline tunes texture through process steps instead. Quorn's freezing step, which lines fibres up like muscle, shows it works[3].
The person paying is the R&D or procurement head at a plant-based meat brand, a frozen-snack maker or a supplier to quick-service chains. Consumers see the brand's name, never Threadline's.
You price per kilo against the buyer's current soy or pea input. There's no public Indian price for fungal fibre or TVP, so your first number has to come from buyer trials. The blending grade is the easier sale because it only nudges the buyer's cost up a little.
A big Indian agribusiness has jumped in. In January 2026 a Swiss mycoprotein maker and an Indian seed company announced a framework to install mycoprotein fermentation at a sugar mill in India[5]. FSSAI has already approved mycoprotein from Fusarium venenatum[6], so there's a precedent for this class of food. And solid-state systems can grow in parallel small units, which keeps the entry cost down[3].
Nobody publishes a figure for India's fungal-fibre or textured-protein ingredient market. The tightest anchor is GFI India's count of 143 plant-based meat products from 73 brands[1], and each one is a possible formulation slot.
Among people who had tried plant-based meat, 72% said they'd buy again[1]. That's adjacent demand though, not your market size.
A European mycoprotein firm is the closest model. It calls itself a B2B ingredient company and sells mycoprotein with a fibrous texture to retailers and brands[7]. One US brand sells whole mycelium cutlets under its own name[8]. The Swiss-Indian partnership may turn out bulk mycoprotein but hasn't shared capacity or a timeline[5].
I couldn't find an Indian firm selling graded fungal fibre to other brands, which is your opening. The Indian partner could end up as your competitor or your raw-material supplier.
| Difficulty | Hard (61/100) |
| Starting capital | ₹2.5–4.5 Cr |
| Time to launch | 18–24 months |
Growing fungus is easy. Growing the same clean fibre in every batch and holding a stated fibre length after freezing is the hard part. The FSSAI dossier needs paid safety studies, and approvals outside the standards can take six to 12 months or more[9]. Cost is the other wall, since mycoprotein often sells close to meat prices[4].
Yes. A new fungal ingredient can't be sold in India until FSSAI clears it.
Building this outside India? The categories above usually have a local equivalent, so check with your own regulator.
Don't trust AI with safety conclusions or what goes to FSSAI unchecked. Those need real studies and a human expert.
Want to work out the AI layer for Threadline? Talk to Yash →
Here's what can go south -
I'd back a founder with food-microbiology or fermentation training who can sit through a regulatory process and sell to R&D teams. If you're hoping for quick revenue then look elsewhere.
First prove one thing - that a brand's own food technologist picks your blending grade in their strip, in a blind test, at a cost they'll accept.
Plan for roughly ₹2.5–4.5 Cr over 18–24 months, covering a pilot solid-state plant, texture work and the paid safety studies for the FSSAI dossier.
Yes, unless your strain and process are already cleared. New ingredients need non-specified food approval, which can take six to 12 months or more[9].
Yes. Plant-based meat brands exist in many markets. Check how your own food regulator treats new fungal ingredients, since rules and timelines differ.
The free Threadline validation kit has the line-by-line capital breakdown, the effort scoring, the FSSAI approval and licensing checklist, a 14-day validation sprint with pass/fail targets, a 90-day launch plan, 10 interview questions for food technologists and buyers, and 5 assumptions to test. Download the kit →
Thinking about building Threadline or something close to it? The make-or-break work is clearing FSSAI while bringing your blending grade close to soy on cost, and that's the kind of plan I help founders work through. If you need a hand, you know where to find me. Talk to Yash →
For illustration only. Names are fictional and ideas hypothetical; sourced facts are real but may be out of date. Nothing here is legal, financial or professional advice, and Yash Khatri is not personally liable for any use of it. Read the full disclaimer.