North Spore

North Spore is a Portland, Maine, mushroom company founded in 2014 by Eliah Thanhauser, Jon Carver, and Matt McInnis. It began as a small mushroom farm and grew into a vertically integrated supplier of organic mushroom grow kits, spawn, sterile substrates, cultivation tools, and mushroom wellness products.

The ownership trail has a few more moving parts than a tiny farm stand, so we checked it closely. North Spore's team page names Eliah, Jon, and Matt as co-founders, with Ben Chesler now serving in company leadership. Maine Venture Fund describes North Spore as led by Chesler and the three co-founders, founded in 2014, and based in Portland. A 2026 Honest Ecommerce interview with Eliah tells the founding story in detail, including the early garage setup and the move from fresh mushrooms into ecommerce. LinkedIn lists the company as founded in 2014 and headquartered in Portland. We found outside growth funding, but no corporate parent, acquisition record, or exclusion-list match.

North Spore is best known for cultivation supplies: spray-and-grow kits, mushroom blocks, plug spawn, sawdust spawn, grain spawn, sterile substrates, grow tents, and lab tools. The wellness line adds mushroom capsules, tinctures, coffee, honey, and related products. That mix deserves a little skepticism. Mushroom supplements are a noisy category, and shoppers should avoid miracle claims wherever they appear. North Spore earns a listing because the company shows real mycology infrastructure behind the products: staff mycologists, in-house spawn production, a culture bank, and years of grower education.

For people who want less mystery, the grow kits are the strongest entry point. You can see what the company does by growing the mushrooms yourself. The supplement line still requires label-reading and dosage judgment, but it comes from a company with visible founders, a real facility, and a long track record in mushroom cultivation rather than a faceless capsule brand chasing a trend.

Products

• Organic mushroom grow kits and fruiting blocks
• Mushroom spawn, cultures, and sterile substrates
• Home and commercial cultivation supplies
• Mushroom capsules, tinctures, coffee, honey, and wellness products
• Mushroom education, recipes, and growing guides

Why We List Them

• Founded in Maine in 2014 by Eliah Thanhauser, Jon Carver, and Matt McInnis
• Ownership and leadership verified through company, investor, interview, and LinkedIn sources
• Vertically integrated mushroom operation with in-house spawn, substrate, and culture work
• Strong educational resources for home growers
• No corporate parent or acquisition record found