Woodoo raises $31 million to transform wood to the strength of steel

Paris-based biotech Woodoo is using low-grade wood products and turning them into ‘premium high-tech materials’. It has raised $31 million to scale its technology platform - scaling from luxury goods to commodity building materials which it claims ‘outperform steel and concrete in strength, weight, look, and cost’. 

The round was led by Lowercarbon Capital with One Creation, Purple, institutional partners, and angel investors also participating.

“Turning dead wood into skyscrapers isn’t just an environmental feat, it also directly translates into eye-catching aesthetics, leaner construction budgets, and fatter bottom lines,” says Chris Sacca of Lowercarbon Capital. 

Woodoo’s technology has three product lines: automotive, luxury, and construction. Its range of products includes smart surfaces and panelling, tactile interfaces, and animal-free luxury “leather” goods. The distressed wood transformation takes place at the molecular level through lignin engineering using locally sourced substandard feedstock.

“As shortages of raw inputs and historic breakdowns in global supply chains threaten our economic and national security, Woodoo’s biological alchemy allows us to rebuild core industries with carbon negative ingredients we can source from right here in Europe.” says Woodoo CEO and founder Timothée Boitouzet,

Woodoo has struck up a commercial and technical partnership with industrialised wood construction company Garnica,  Woodoo’s technologies with be integrated into Garnica's building products portfolio, providing builders with a new range of sustainable and high-performance wood-based materials. 

"As a leading manufacturer of high-quality wood, we are convinced that the future of construction will involve biotechnological breakthroughs. This is why Garnica is pleased to announce the signature of a strategic partnership with Woodoo to develop a range of wood materials modified at the molecular level. This collaboration will enable us to offer high-performance, innovative, economical and local construction solutions while concretely engaging the low-carbon shift, with the common objective of increasing our market share in the US and strengthening our positioning in Europe,” says Juan Albiñana CIO of Garnica.