Inside New Dawn Bio: The Real Story Behind the Cultured Wood Startup’s Funding and Technology

Clement has publicly described the company as an "impact-driven startup pioneering the world’s first cultured wood" and has positioned it as a sustainable alternative to deforestation-heavy traditional wood products .

A co-founder named Kianti Figler does not appear in any of the provided sources. The company profile lists Tom Clement as founder , and a 2025 article describes Clement "joining forces with cell biologist Ruben van Spoordonk" to develop the technology . No source names Figler.

Confirmed funding to date

Multiple sources confirm New Dawn Bio has raised modest funding through grants and a seed investment, but nothing approaching €2.1 million from a single round:

• Norrsken VC investment: ~$292,550 (approximately €270,000) in a seed round, according to funding databases . One source labels the investor as Norrsken Evolve .
• StartLife pre-seed award: €100,000, granted in December 2024 in collaboration with the Province of Gelderland and Oost NL .
• Province of Gelderland subsidy: One source notes that "their main source of income is a subsidy of Gelderland province, and some private investments" .
• Eurostars grant for BRANCH project: €1.4 million, awarded jointly to New Dawn Bio and the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) to develop the first cultured wood prototype grown in bioreactors .
• Ontdekkers Group investment: In September 2025, Sebastiaan Dekkers' Ontdekkers Group joined as an investor, though the amount was not disclosed .

Total verified funding (excluding the Eurostars grant, which is a collaborative research award rather than equity investment) sits around €400,000–€500,000.

In a video presentation at Impact/Week 2025, Clement said, "With only 300K, we've made the world's first wooden product from cultured cells. We've patented our technology, and we've gained €2.7 million in offtake LOI and now we're ready for liftoff." He added that the company had been planning to announce the opening of a pre-seed round at the event but instead had closed it before it opened—without specifying the amount .

Technology stage and market positioning

The company is targeting luxury goods and other high-end industries as beachhead markets . The BRANCH project with LIST is explicitly focused on developing a cultured wood prototype and exploring applications for "high-end industries" .

Clement has emphasized that the technology is patented and that the company is seeking partners "in luxury goods, beachhead markets, who want to be the first in line for the future of wood" .

What remains unverified

Several specific claims could not be corroborated by the available sources:

• The €2.1 million oversubscribed pre-seed round: No press release, news article, regulatory filing, or investor announcement in the provided source set confirms this specific figure for New Dawn Bio . The €2.1 million figure appears elsewhere—for example, Berlin-based SereneDB raised a €2.1 million pre-seed round led by Entourage and High-Tech Gründerfonds—but that round is unrelated to New Dawn Bio .
• Lead and participating investors for a €2.1M round: The specific investors that reportedly led or participated in such a round are not identified in any provided source .
• Specific environmental impact figures: The claim that cultured wood could avoid 2.1 gigatons of direct CO₂ emissions annually, or that it addresses the 5.3 million hectares of tropical forest lost each year, does not appear in any of the provided sources . While deforestation is a real and serious problem, these specific numbers tied to New Dawn Bio are unverified.
• "Up to 10,000x faster" growth claim: None of the available sources substantiate a claim that New Dawn Bio's process is 10,000 times faster than conventional forestry .
• Use of AI in product development: The provided sources do not describe or verify any use of artificial intelligence in New Dawn Bio's technology for developing tunable or shaped wood products . The company's described expertise centers on cell biology and materials science .
• Specific fund allocation plan: No breakdown of how a €2.1 million round would be allocated—toward technology advancement, team growth, or otherwise—appears in the provided sources .
• Co-founder Kianti Figler: This name does not appear in any of the provided sources about New Dawn Bio .

What the evidence suggests

The core technology—growing wood from cultured cells—is real and at an early, prototype stage. The company exists, has a founder, has received modest funding from credible institutions, and has a clear go-to-market strategy focused on luxury goods. A pre-seed round that closed before it was formally opened was claimed by Clement in late 2025, but the specific size, investors, and terms of that round are not confirmed in the public record reviewed here.

Investors and partners should treat the €2.1 million figure and associated environmental impact numbers as unverified until New Dawn Bio publishes an official funding announcement or those figures appear in a reputable third-party source.