Mold Toxicity & How To Treat It | Ariana Thacker, Moldco

Ariana Thacker, founder and CEO of Moldco, discusses mold-related illness as a major but overlooked root cause of chronic disease

• Moldco is a virtual clinic that diagnoses and treats mold toxicity and chronic inflammatory response syndrome (CIRS), a multi-system inflammatory condition triggered by mold and biotoxin exposure
• An estimated 25 million Americans suffer from CIRS, which is linked to neurodegeneration, IBS, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, obesity, and metabolic conditions
• The condition has been historically overlooked because research was conducted by private clinicians, medical specialization makes multi-system issues hard to diagnose, and standard lab panels don’t test for relevant biomarkers
• Ariana started the company after personally developing CIRS from mold exposure in her Miami condo, despite being previously healthy

Mold exposure triggers a distinct immune response that persists even after leaving the environment

• Unlike allergies, asthma, or fungal infections, CIRS involves a dysregulated innate immune system that maintains chronic inflammation even after exposure ends
• One in four Americans carry a genetic susceptibility (HLA haplotype on chromosome 6) that prevents effective detoxification of biotoxins
• Symptoms span multiple systems: brain fog, fatigue, gastrointestinal issues, frequent urination, joint pain, sleep disruption, hormonal dysregulation, mood disorders, chronic pain, and in women, miscarriages and painful periods
• In children, neuroinflammation can manifest as “mold rage” — angry outbursts and emotional dysregulation that are often misunderstood
• Exposure can cause harm in as little as 3–6 months; Ariana developed CIRS after just six and a half months of living with mold in her HVAC system

Mold is far more prevalent in buildings than most people realize

• An estimated 50% of US homes have hidden mold issues; some estimates go as high as 70%
• A study of 12,800 homes found 50% had mold growth, dampness, or water damage
• Common signs include peeling paint, cracking walls, warped surfaces, musty odors, crawl spaces, flat roofs, and dust in HVAC systems (which serves as mold food)
• Remediation is often incomplete — dead mold particles can be more inflammatory than live mold, and Ariana recommends cutting out affected material rather than chemical cleaning
• Air sampling tools may miss up to 100x the actual microbial load because they don’t detect fragments, mycotoxins, VOCs, endotoxins, and actinobacteria present in water-damaged buildings

Moldco’s treatment approach is based on the Shoemaker Protocol, simplified into a three-step process

• The Shoemaker Protocol is the only peer-reviewed, published treatment for CIRS, developed over 30 years of research
• Moldco simplified the 12-step protocol into three steps to treat 90% of patients through a virtual clinic:
  1. Detox: Prescription binder (colestyramine/colesevelam) to remove mold and biotoxins from the body
  2. Clear: EDTA and xylitol-based nasal spray to treat MARCoNS (antibiotic-resistant staph colonization in nasal passages)
  3. Repair: Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) spray to restore hormonal and immune regulation
• The remaining 10% of patients are severely hypersensitive, often housebound, reactive to chemicals and foods, and require years of complex treatment with co-infections like Lyme and chronic Epstein-Barr
• Ariana chose to focus on the 90% first because the evidence base is strong (70–90% improvement rates) and the treatment can be delivered programmatically at scale

Ariana’s personal journey through the illness gave her unique insight into building the company

• She initially saw multiple specialists who tested for the wrong things; most labs came back normal except low ferritin, which didn’t explain her progressive decline
• A friend who worked at a mold-literate clinic recognized her symptoms; inspection confirmed high levels of Aspergillus and Penicillium throughout her HVAC system
• She spent months documenting insights in an 80-page Google Doc while navigating treatment, finding clean housing, and recovering
• She initially tried to recruit someone else to found Moldco while she ran her VC fund, Conscience VC, but eventually took the role herself after realizing no one else had the depth of context

The company is scaling through a programmable virtual clinic model

• Patients can order lab testing (blood draws, genetic susceptibility tests, dust tests) and go through care remotely
• The platform includes a concierge care portal for messaging providers and is building an LLM to handle complex patient communications at scale
• New providers are recruited and trained under Dr. Shoemaker and medical director Dr. Scott McMahon, since most doctors don’t test for CIRS biomarkers
• Moldco is expanding to all 50 states by March 2026
• The company has amassed what Ariana believes is the world’s largest dataset in the space: thousands of biospecimens and nearly 10,000 patient history forms with environmental, MRI, RNA, genetic, and medical data

Moldco is the first step in a broader vision to address all biotoxin illnesses

• The parent entity is called The Immune Co., with plans for LymeCo (Lyme disease) and LongCo (long COVID) following MoldCo
• All three conditions share a common pattern: microbial insults (fungal, bacterial, viral) leading to innate immune dysregulation and chronic inflammation (CIRS)
• COVID appears to be a priming event that worsens outcomes for those with prior mold exposure, consistent with the concept of compounding microbial burden
• The company is using its dataset and RNA sequencing of its biobank to discover novel biomarkers and better subtype patients for personalized treatment

Public awareness is growing, driven by high-profile disclosures and increasing search trends

• Public figures like Chris Williamson and Jordan Peterson disclosing mold-related illness have driven exponential increases in Google searches for “mold toxicity” and spikes in mold remediation interest
• This has given people permission to ask whether their health issues might be mold-related
• Ariana sees ripple effects including more home inspections, greater interest in specialized lab testing, and growing openness from the medical community

There are massive gaps in the medical system for mold-related illness

• No insurance code exists for mold-related illness (there is one for being bitten by a turtle)
• No environmental health screening questions are included in annual visits
• Standard immunologists and allergists don’t test for key biomarkers like VEGF, TGF-beta 1, MMP9, MSH, C4A
• Patients are often misdiagnosed, gaslit, or told their symptoms are psychosomatic
• Many patients end up on antidepressants, anti-anxiety medications, or ADHD drugs without anyone identifying mold as the root cause
• Women experiencing infertility or multiple miscarriages are often routed to IVF without anyone considering mold exposure

The financial burden on patients is enormous under the status quo

• Patients often wait months to see qualified providers while still living in contaminated environments
• Treatment costs can reach tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars; one patient spent $500,000 individually and $2 million for his family
• Ariana wrote a policy memo advocating for insurance codes and environmental health screening at annual visits
• She sees a fintech opportunity to help families cover inspection, remediation, and care costs

For travelers, mold exposure is a constant risk

• Ariana travels with prescription binders in her purse and takes prophylactic doses, especially in airports where mold is nearly ubiquitous
• She uses a detailed checklist when booking accommodations: no carpet, newly built or renovated, no history of water damage, no musty odors, calling ahead to ask about hypersensitivity accommodations
• She always sources a backup location; if she detects symptoms within minutes of arriving (brain fog, fatigue, slowed processing), she relocates
• She would love to see a product that automatically screens accommodations for mold risk before booking

Ariana’s fundraising background and relentless outreach style were key to building both her VC fund and Moldco

• She raised Conscience VC through roughly 600 rejections, moving into her parents’ apartment, working from 4 a.m. until she passed out, and iterating her pitch until she was closing two-thirds of meetings
• She secured Dr. Shoemaker’s involvement through persistent outreach over 12 months
• Her anchor investor at Conscience VC initially rejected her multiple times before eventually leading the fund
• She attributes her willingness to cold-email anyone to a period of solo travel where she challenged herself to meet 10 new people per day

The hardest thing Ariana has overcome is internal, not external

• She describes herself as anxious and fear-prone, and says the continuous work of acting with courage despite fear is her ongoing challenge
• She focuses on what she can control — her actions, behaviors, and thought processes — rather than trying to eliminate fear
• She believes optimizing for courage is more productive than trying to achieve a state of low fear