Rs 1.35 crore loan, Rs 15 crore annual revenue: How Uttarakhand’s engineering couple built a mushroom empire

In 2007, when Naveen Patwal, a BTech graduate from Pauri Garhwal in Uttarakhand, wanted to grow mushrooms indoors, everyone discouraged him. But Naveen went ahead with his dream business idea and it turned out to be the best decision of his life. Naveen is now the co-founder of Planet Mushroom, which he launched in 2022 with his wife, Poonam Sharma, also a BTech graduate who studied an MBA at IIT Kharagpur. Now, their business produces about 200 kgs of different mushroom varieties with an annual revenue of Rs 15 crore as per FY25.

BTech graduate’s dream of mushroom production

As per the official website, Planet Mushroom is a homegrown mushroom farming brand. The firm grows and sells exotic mushrooms like shiitake, oyster, cordyceps, reishi, lion’s mane, and gucchi. But Naveen’s journey wasn’t a bed of roses.

In 2007, Naveen had to secure a loan of 1.35 crore to start the mushroom business while the total cost of the project was Rs 1.82 crore. The remaining amount was contributed by a promoter, reported Startup Pedia.


From 2007 to 2013, he grew button mushrooms as a farmer, producing about 800-1000 kgs of mushrooms, sold for an average price of Rs 100-120 per day.

Bouncing back after COVID-19 disruption

In 2013, Naveen met Poonam, and they got married. Poonam quit her bank job a year later, and the couple took a loan of Rs 12 crore this time. They constructed a larger mushroom unit with the necessary machinery and electricity systems.

Although by 2019, Naveen and Poonam produced approximately 9,50,000 kg of mushrooms, the COVID-19 pandemic caused their business to incur a Rs 2 crore loss, reported 30 Stades.

But the duo bounced back quickly, experimenting with mushroom varieties and finally launching Planet Mushroom. They grew the Gucchi mushroom variety, and in 2024, they rented a polyhouse spanning 100 sq mts.

Planet Mushroom now

At present, Naveen and Poonam’s Planet Mushroom produces about 100 kgs of exotic mushrooms and 3.5 tonnes of button mushrooms every day. The brand’s customers include restaurants, mandi wholesalers, wellness resorts, nutritionists and direct customers from B2C channels such as Amazon, Planet Mushroom’s website, and Instagram.