Latest news with #Superwood
TechCrunch
12-05-2025
- Business
- TechCrunch
InventWood is about to mass-produce wood that's stronger than steel
It sounds like the stuff of science fiction, but it actually comes from a lab in Maryland. In 2018, Liangbing Hu, a materials scientist at the University of Maryland, devised a way to turn ordinary wood into a material stronger than steel. It seemed like yet another headline-grabbing discovery that wouldn't make it out of the lab. 'All these people came to him,' said Alex Lau, CEO of InventWood, 'He's like, OK, this is amazing, but I'm a university professor. I don't know quite what to do about it.' Rather than give up, Hu spent the next few years refining the technology, reducing the time it took to make the material from more than a week to a few hours. Soon, it was ready to commercialize, and he licensed the technology to InventWood. Now, the startup's first batches of Superwood will be produced starting this summer. 'Right now, coming out of this first-of-a-kind commercial plant — so it's a smaller plant — we're focused on skin applications,' Lau said. 'Eventually we want to get to the bones of the building. Ninety percent of the carbon impact from buildings is concrete and steel in the construction of the building.' To build the factory, InventWood has raised $15 million in the first close of a Series A round. The round was led by the Grantham Foundation with participation from Baruch Future Ventures, Builders VC, and Muus Climate Partners, the company exclusively told TechCrunch. Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you've built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Berkeley, CA | June 5 BOOK NOW InventWood's Superwood product starts with regular timber, which is mostly composed of two compounds, cellulose and lignin. The goal is to strengthen the cellulose already present in the wood. 'The cellulose nanocrystal is actually stronger than a carbon fiber,' Lau said. The company treats it with 'food industry' chemicals to modify the lignin in the wood, he said, and then compresses the result to increase the hydrogen bonds between cellulose molecules. 'We might densify the material by 4x and you might think, 'Oh, it'll be four times strong, because it has four times the fiber.' But it's actually more like 10 times stronger because of all these extra bonds that get created,' Lau said. The result is a material that has 50% more tensile strength than steel with a strength-to-weight ratio that's 10 times better, the company said. It's also Class A fire rated, or highly resistant to flame, and resistant to rot and pests. With some polymer impregnated, it can be stabilized for outdoor use like siding, decking, or roofing. InventWood's first products will be facade materials for commercial and high-end residential buildings, Lau said. Compressing the material also concentrates the colors. 'You end up with something that looks like these richer, tropical hardwoods,' he added. Ultimately, InventWood is planning to use wood chips to create structural beams of any dimension that won't need finishing. 'Imagine your I-beams look like this,' Lau said, holding up a sample of Superwood. 'They're beautiful, like walnut, ipe. These are the natural colors. We haven't stained any of this.' Topics buildings Climate construction materials Exclusive materials science Tim De Chant Senior Reporter, Climate Tim De Chant is a senior climate reporter at TechCrunch. He has written for a wide range of publications, including Wired magazine, the Chicago Tribune, Ars Technica, The Wire China, and NOVA Next, where he was founding editor. De Chant is also a lecturer in MIT's Graduate Program in Science Writing, and he was awarded a Knight Science Journalism Fellowship at MIT in 2018, during which time he studied climate technologies and explored new business models for journalism. He received his PhD in environmental science, policy, and management from the University of California, Berkeley, and his BA degree in environmental studies, English, and biology from St. Olaf College. View Bio May 13, 2025 London, England Get inside access to Europe's top investment minds — with leaders from Monzo, Accel, Paladin Group, and more — plus top-tier networking at StrictlyVC London. REGISTER NOW Most Popular Congressman is investigating fintech Ramp's attempt to win $25M federal contract Mercury's CEO formalizes bets on early-stage founders with a $26M fund Google launches new initiative to back startups building AI Saudi prince launches AI venture as Trump, Musk, Altman, and Zuckerberg arrive for conference Sam Altman apparently does not respect olive oil OpenAI's Stargate project reportedly struggling to get off the ground, thanks to tariffs GM taps Aurora co-founder for new chief product officer role Loading the next article Error loading the next article
TechCrunch
12-05-2025
- Business
- TechCrunch
InventWood is about to mass produce wood that's stronger than steel
It sounds like the stuff of science fiction, but it actually comes from a lab in Maryland. In 2018, Liangbing Hu, a materials scientist at the University of Maryland, had devised a way to turn ordinary wood into a material stronger than steel. It seemed like yet another headline grabbing discovery that wouldn't make it out of the lab. 'All these people came to him,' said Alex Lau, CEO of InventWood, 'He's like, OK, this is amazing, but I'm a university professor. I don't know quite what to do about it.' Rather than give up, Hu spent the next few years refining the technology, reducing the time it took to make the material from more than a week to a few hours. Soon, it was ready to commercialize, and he licensed the technology to InventWood. Now, the startup's first batches of Superwood will be produced starting this summer. 'Right now, coming out of the this first-of-a-kind commercial plant — so it's a smaller plant — we're focused on skin applications,' Lau said. 'Eventually we want to get to the bones of the building. Ninety percent of the carbon impact from buildings is concrete and steel in the construction of the building.' To build the factory, InventWood has raised $15 million in the first close of a Series A round. The round was led by the Grantham Foundation with participation from Baruch Future Ventures, Builders VC, and Muus Climate Partners, the company exclusively told TechCrunch. Techcrunch event Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you've built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you've built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Berkeley, CA | BOOK NOW InventWood's Superwood product starts with regular timber, which is mostly composed of two compounds, cellulose and lignin. The goal is to strengthen the cellulose already present in the wood. 'The cellulose nanocrystal is actually stronger than a carbon fiber,' Lau said. The company treats it with 'food industry' chemicals to modify the lignin in the wood, he said, and then compresses the result to increase the hydrogen bonds between cellulose molecules. 'We might densify the material by 4x and you might think, 'Oh, it'll be four times strong, because it has four times the fiber.' But it's actually more like 10-times stronger because of all these extra bonds that get created,' Lau said. The result is a material that has 50% more tensile strength than steel with a strength-to-weight ratio that's ten-times better, the company said. It's also Class A fire rated, or highly resistant to flame, and resistant to rot and pests. With some polymer impregnated, it can be stabilized for outdoor use like siding, decking, or roofing. InventWood's first products will be facade materials for commercial and high-end residential buildings, Lau said. Compressing the material also concentrates the colors. 'You end up with something that looks like these richer, tropical hardwoods,' he added. Ultimately, InventWood is planning to use wood chips to create structural beams of any dimension that won't need finishing. 'Imagine your I-beams look like this,' Lau said, holding up a sample of Superwood. 'They're beautiful, like walnut, ipe. These are the natural colors. We haven't stained any of this.'
