New Dawn Bio, a Wageningen, Netherlands-based producer of cultured wood grown from cells, has raised €2.1M ($2.4M) in pre-seed funding led by CapitalT. The company grows wood in bioreactors from tree stem cells to produce pre-shaped hardwood without harvesting trees. The capital will advance product development and expand the R&D team.
Cultured Materials Draw Climate Capital
The timing aligns with rising investor interest in biofabrication alternatives to traditional materials. CapitalT led the round with participation from Norrsken Evolve, Ontdekkers Groep, and angel Jelle Prins. StartLife provided an earlier €100K grant. New Dawn Bio's approach grows interconnected wood tissue in under a week, targeting premium and rare wood species first before broader applications.
Fifteen Billion Trees Cut Annually
Forestry operations remove 15 billion trees every year, driving biodiversity loss and carbon emissions. New Dawn Bio's technology targets potential annual savings of 2.1 Gt CO₂ while eliminating logging waste. Current wood supply chains rely on decades-long growth cycles and generate substantial sawing losses, constraints that bioreactor production directly addresses.
Stem Cell Culture Replaces Harvesting
The platform uses tree stem cells in bioreactors to produce structural hardwood, achieving speeds up to 10,000 times faster than natural growth. This differs from competitors focused on mycelium biomaterials or plant cell extracts for pharmaceuticals. Physical prototypes exist and the company expects its first commercial partnership soon.
“For the first time in history, we can now grow pre-shaped premium wood.” — Tom Clement, CEO
CapitalT Makes First Biotech Investment
CapitalT, typically focused on software, selected New Dawn Bio as its initial biotech bet due to the founders' technical depth and the sustainability thesis. Norrsken Evolve brings impact-focused climate capital. The syndicate validates both the cell-based materials approach and the Wageningen team's execution capability.
Synthetic Biology Market Scales to $112B
The synthetic biology market stands at $26.87B in 2026 and is projected to reach $112.51B by 2033 at a 22.7% CAGR. European synthetic biology is valued at $3.2B with 23.21% CAGR. New Dawn Bio operates as the primary commercial entrant in cultured wood, while academic efforts such as MIT's lab-grown timber research remain at the prototype stage. EU Deforestation Regulation creates additional demand for verified deforestation-free inputs.
Team Brings Cell Engineering Expertise
Co-founders Tom Clement and Kianti Figler assembled expertise spanning Harvard Medical School, ETH Zurich, and University of Amsterdam in cell biology, materials engineering, and bioprinting. Recent hires include Catarina Mendonça as Founder's Associate. The team has secured a Eurostars BRANCH grant with the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology.