NUMU

نُمُوّ

UAE — Bio-composites platform

Grown, not manufactured.

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UAE — Bio-composites platform

The Middle East's first

bio-engineered

material platform.

Est. 2025 — Dubai, UAE

Explore the material system ↓

01 — Statement

Bio-composites grown from biology, engineered for construction.

NUMU operates a bio-composites platform built for the GCC. Our flagship material, PALMYCO™, is a grown mycelium foam — a proprietary bio-composite cultivated inside molds from regional agricultural fibers, producing lightweight panels with distinctive three-dimensional texture.

Alongside PALMYCO™, NUMU leverages spent mushroom substrate — a regional waste stream — to produce heat-pressed composite boards. Two distinct material outputs, shared production infrastructure, four revenue lines. Circular by design.

Material in motion

A material grown over time, not manufactured. From agricultural fibres to structural form, the process unfolds through controlled biological growth over 5–7 days.

02 — The Material

PALMYCO™ — grown, not manufactured.

PALMYCO™ is NUMU's proprietary grown mycelium foam — a bio-composite cultivated from regional agricultural fibers bound by a living mycelium network. Rigid, breathable, sound-absorbent, and home-compostable. No binders. No petroleum. No synthetic residue. Trademarked material, grown in Dubai.

PALMYCO™ properties are tuned through the growth cycle itself. Alongside it, NUMU presses composite boards from spent mushroom substrate — a separate material, a separate waste stream, a separate product line. The platform compounds both.

Substrate inputs — regional agricultural residues

Palm leaf agricultural substrate from UAE date palm pruning waste

Palm leaf fibre

UAE date palm pruning waste, the region's largest agricultural residue stream.

Plant fibre blend

Mixed agricultural by-products sourced regionally.

Spent mushroom substrate (SMS)

A waste stream already generated by regional commercial mushroom farms. Near-zero feedstock cost. Powers the pressed board production line.

Production routes

Grown

Mycelium cultivated inside proprietary molds over a controlled growth cycle, then heat-stabilized into a finished form. Produces distinctive surface texture and complex three-dimensional form factors.

Used in: Acoustic panels, architectural surface.

Pressed

Spent mycelium biomass shredded and heat-pressed directly into flat board formats. Minutes of press time rather than weeks of cultivation.

Used in: Event structures, temporary architecture, pressed board applications.

Product — FOLD

FOLD

Surface design in collaboration with NYXO Design Studio.

FOLD is NUMU's first product — a modular acoustic panel system grown from bio-based material and designed for interior architecture. It translates the material platform into a real, specification-ready object: tactile, scalable, and visually distinctive.

Fold takes its name from the forces that shape it — the movement of fabric, the softness of drapery, the way wind carves form into sand and dunes. Each panel surface carries that memory: a topography grown into material rather than cut from it.

The material system, manufacturing process, and engineering are NUMU. The surface design pattern is co-developed with NYXO Design Studio.

Render — FOLD acoustic panel, urban concrete installation, 3x3 grid module

Render — Urban concrete installation, 3×3 grid module

FOLD installation render while the animation loads

Render — Urban concrete installation, variation

Technical specifications

Panel dimensions

400 mm × 400 mm × 60 mm

Weight

Approx. 1.8–2.2 kg/m²

Acoustic performance

NRC ~0.7 target — certification pending

Fire performance

ASTM E84 Class B — target (certification pending)

Installation

Concealed adhesive mount or mechanical fixing

Finish

Natural PALMYCO™ surface, raw or sealed

Lead time

6–8 weeks from order

Origin

Manufactured in Dubai, UAE

End of life

100% bio-based, biodegradable under natural composting conditions

03 — Installations

Two installations. Real conditions.

Netherlands — 2022

Beyond Chrysant

Prototype installation demonstrating the folded acoustic language in a built exhibition context.

Dubai, UAE — 2026 Q2 · in progress

KAVE

Current Dubai client installation translating FOLD into a live interior environment.

Installation — Dubai, UAE · 2026 Q2

KAVE

Currently being built

Days

Hours

Min

Sec

Specify NUMU

Bring PALMYCO™ into your project.

Samples, specification sheets, and project conversations for architects, interior designers, and fit-out teams. Based in Dubai. Delivering regionally.

By submitting, you agree that NUMU may use your email to respond to this request in line with our Privacy Policy and Terms.

04 — Process

Grown, not manufactured.

Production

NUMU operates an active production lab in Dubai since 2025. Material is grown and pressed from regional agricultural waste — no imports, no synthetic resins.

The process, documented.

PALMYCO™ is produced in our active production lab. This footage documents the full process cycle — substrate preparation, mycelium inoculation, growth, heat-stabilization, and finishing. No renders, no simulations. Real production conditions, repeatable process.

Duration — 1 min 34 sec

Loading process documentation

Material Experiments & Applied Research

← scroll · click to enlarge →

Surface texture

Biofoam material

Lab process

Surface detail

FOLD panel

Composite form

Pressed board

Mymo

Scale context

Insulation

Kinoko

Kinoko detail

Lamp 01

Lamp 02

Pressed samples

Reroot panels

Spora panels

Pressed booth

07 — Platform Horizons

One material platform. Current product. Future lines.

Acoustic panels are the entry product, available now. The platform expands across four revenue lines, each running on the same material system and the same production infrastructure.

PALMYCO™ — the grown line — enters the market through decorative acoustic panels, scales through certified architectural specification, and extends into thermal wall assemblies. The pressed-board line — built from spent mushroom substrate on the same production infrastructure — serves events, brand activations, and non-structural interior applications. Packaging and regional licensing open in phase two.

NUMU grown acoustic panels — FOLD product line, interior architecture

Active

Acoustic — Grown

Decorative and specification-grade mycelium panels for interior architecture. First product: FOLD.

NUMU pressed mycelium composite board — event and temporary architecture application

Active

Boards — Pressed

Heat-pressed mycelium composite boards for events, brand activations, and temporary architecture.

In Development

Thermal

Passive insulation grown from palm fibre, designed for hot-climate wall assemblies.

In Development

Packaging

Molded protective forms, compostable alternative to petroleum-based foams.

Platform horizon — Thermal

Bio-based thermal systems.

NUMU materials can be integrated within wall assemblies to provide passive thermal performance. The porous structure of the material enables insulation while remaining breathable.

Designed for hot climates, the system supports reduced energy demand and improved indoor comfort without synthetic foams.

In development — opens after certification of the acoustic line

Platform horizon — Packaging

Molded protection, grown not manufactured.

NUMU materials can be shaped into protective packaging forms — a compostable alternative to petroleum-based foams. Each piece is grown into shape from agricultural waste, maintaining shock absorption while remaining fully biodegradable at end of life.

Working with mycelium means manufacturing with a living material system. Each object is grown from natural fibers, shaped through biological growth, and stabilized into a functional product. Sustainability is not added afterward — it is built into the material process itself.

Scalable application — logistics and product protection

European pathway — Biomyc partnership, LOI signed

NUMU mycelium packaging — protective molded form grown from agricultural waste

Material comparison

Styrofoam — EPS

○

Fossil-based petroleum derivative

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Persistent pollutant — 500+ year lifespan

○

Extremely difficult to recycle

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Non-biodegradable in natural conditions

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High embedded carbon

Mycelium packaging

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Grown from agricultural waste residues

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Bio-based — no synthetic binders or polymers

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Equal or superior shock absorption

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Home-compostable at end of life

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Carbon-sequestering feedstock

Manifesto

What we believe.

Performance before narrative.

Waste is feedstock.

The region builds its own.

Platforms outlast products.

Grown, not manufactured.

08 — Team

Built by a team already executing.

NUMU is not a solo-founder story. The company combines industrialization, construction finance, IP strategy, and commercial growth to turn the material platform into real projects.