If a tree grows in the lab, could it change the future?
Trees famously take ages to grow, but Netherlands-based startup New Dawn Bio developed the world's first cultured wood that grows 10K times faster than conventional forestry without cutting a single tree, per TechFundingNews.
The startup secured an oversubscribed $2.4M pre-seed financing round for the innovative technology, which could revolutionize the wood and timber market, while preserving biodiverse forests and reducing carbon emissions.
Going out on a limb
Founded in 2023 by Tom Clement and Kianti Figler, New Dawn Bio took shape on the Wageningen Campus, Europe’s leading agricultural research center.
The company has found a way to grow pre-shaped premium wood, which is wild (and yet, not wild):
- Stem cells harvested from trees
- Cells multiplied in bio-reactors
- Cells given biological signals they'd receive inside a tree trunk
- Signals guide cells to harden into wood tissue in any desired shape
The company's current samples are only hand-sized — and include six different species — but bench-scale models are next.
New Dawn Bio estimates its cultured wood could reduce the cost of goods by 80% by eliminating waste from sawing, routing, drilling, and gluing.
Money might just grow on (lab-grown) trees
The demand for wood isn't going away.
- The global wood and timber products market was valued at $992B in 2024 and is projected to reach $1.25T by 2030.
- Around 12m acres of tropical forest are lost each year.
- Paper and wood products are the third largest driver of deforestation.
If New Dawn Bio can grow from hand-sized samples to an industrial scale, the company stands to help eliminate 2.1 gigatons of carbon dioxide emissions annually due to deforestation and preserve the rich biodiversity of forests.
What can't they grow?
Other startups also exploring biomanufacturing include:
- Foray Bioscience developed a technique to grow plant-based materials.
- Ecovative uses mushrooms to create packaging, insulation, furniture, leather and meat substitutes.
- Cultivated Biomaterials grows leather from cells of a living cow.
- Galy developed lab-grown cotton, plus cocoa and coffee powders.
At this rate, your next kitchen may be grown in a lab — groceries and all.
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