Imagine a building material that looks and feels like oak but can bear loads that would crush steel beams ten times its weight. That's Superwood, a biocomposite developed by InventWood, a Maryland-based biotechnology startup. By engineering wood at the nanoscale, the company has created a structural material that combines the natural beauty of timber with strength-to-weight performance that surpasses steel by a factor of ten. As the U.S. construction industry seeks domestic alternatives to imported metals, this innovation arrives at a moment when sustainability and supply chain independence have become urgent priorities.

What Is Superwood and How Does It Work?

Superwood is a biocomposite—a material made from biological sources that combines natural properties with engineered performance. It starts as ordinary wood, but through a process developed by Professor Lianbin Hu, a materials scientist at the University of Maryland, it becomes something fundamentally different.

The transformation happens at the nanoscale—the realm of structures measured in billionths of a meter. Wood cells contain several components: cellulose fibers that provide strength, lignin that binds cells together, and hemicellulose that fills spaces between them. Professor Hu and his team selectively remove certain components from this cellular architecture, then compress what remains.

Think of it like removing the soft filling from a honeycomb to make the walls stronger. By eliminating the weaker elements and densifying the structure, the team creates a material where the remaining cellulose fibers are packed tightly together, aligned, and reinforced. The result retains wood's texture, workability, and natural aesthetics—but gains structural properties that rival advanced metals.

Why Wood Can Outperform Steel

The key lies in the strength-to-weight ratio—how much load a material can bear relative to its mass. Steel is strong, but it's also heavy. Superwood achieves comparable or superior strength while weighing a fraction of what steel does.

According to InventWood, their material has a strength-to-weight ratio ten times greater than steel. That means a Superwood beam can support the same load as a steel beam while weighing 90% less. For construction, this translates to lighter structures, reduced foundation requirements, and lower transportation costs.

But strength isn't the only advantage. The nanoscale modification process also makes Superwood fireproof, water-resistant, rot-proof, and pest-resistant—properties that ordinary wood lacks. Unlike traditional timber, it won't warp when wet, burn easily, or decay over time. Unlike steel, it won't rust or corrode.

Real-World Applications in Construction

Superwood's combination of properties opens possibilities across multiple construction sectors. High-rise buildings could use lighter frames that reduce structural loads and seismic risk. Bridges could be built with components that never rust, eliminating a major maintenance burden. Coastal structures could withstand saltwater exposure without degradation.

The material's fire resistance makes it suitable for applications where building codes require non-combustible materials. Its water resistance solves one of wood's oldest problems—moisture damage. And because it retains wood's workability, it can be cut, shaped, and joined using familiar tools and techniques.

InventWood has already announced partnerships that demonstrate this range. The company is working with the Kingdom of Tonga to strengthen buildings in climate-vulnerable Pacific regions, where structures must withstand hurricanes, flooding, and saltwater exposure. This application highlights how Superwood addresses not just structural performance, but resilience in extreme conditions.

InventWood's Path to Commercial Production

On April 30, 2025, InventWood announced a $15 million first close of its Series A funding round, bringing the company's total capital raised to over $50 million. This includes significant non-dilutive support, such as a $20 million Department of Energy SCALEUP award—a signal that federal agencies see strategic value in domestic advanced materials production.

The funding supports commercial production at InventWood's facility in Frederick, Maryland—a roughly 90,000-square-foot operation with expected output of approximately one million square feet of Superwood per year. Commercial shipments are scheduled to begin in Q3 2025, between July and September.

The investor base includes climate-focused funds and foundations, reflecting the material's environmental profile. Producing Superwood requires less energy than smelting steel or refining aluminum, and the base material—wood—is renewable and sequesters carbon as it grows. For builders pursuing LEED certification or other sustainability benchmarks, this carbon footprint advantage matters.

What This Means for Sustainable Building

Superwood enters the market at a moment when the construction industry faces converging pressures. Supply chain disruptions have exposed vulnerabilities in imported materials. Climate commitments require lower-carbon building methods. And architects increasingly seek materials that don't force a choice between performance and environmental responsibility.

A biocomposite that matches or exceeds steel's structural capabilities while offering domestic production, lower weight, and reduced carbon emissions addresses all three concerns. It's not a niche product for experimental projects—it's a potential alternative for mainstream construction applications where steel and aluminum currently dominate.

The technology also raises a broader question: if wood cells can be engineered to surpass steel, what other natural materials might hide untapped structural potential? Professor Hu's work demonstrates that biological materials, refined through nanoscale engineering, can compete with—and sometimes outperform—the metals that have defined construction for more than a century.

As InventWood moves from laboratory innovation to commercial production, the construction industry will have a chance to test whether a material that looks like wood and performs like steel can reshape how we build. The answer will depend not just on technical performance, but on cost, availability, and whether builders trust a biocomposite to do what metals have done for generations. By the end of 2025, the first structures built with Superwood will begin to provide that answer.