Woodchuck, a climate impact startup, converts wood waste into renewable energy using AI technology. The company announced it has secured $3.75 million in seed funding.
The round was led by an investor syndicate headed by Mason Fink. Participating investors included NorthStar Clean Energy, a CMS Energy company, Alloy Partners (formerly High Alpha Innovation), and Beckett Industries.
Woodchuck's platform leverages artificial intelligence to identify, sort, and process wood waste, diverting it from landfills. This process converts the waste into biomass for renewable energy generation. The company states its solution helps construction and manufacturing companies reduce waste-hauling costs.
"With this funding, we are accelerating our mission to help manufacturers and construction companies reduce waste, reduce costs, and contribute to the clean energy grid," commented Todd Thomas, Founder and CEO of Woodchuck.
The U.S. construction industry generates over 41 million tons of wood waste annually, with the majority ending up in landfills. Woodchuck aims to address this by providing a method to repurpose these materials. The company's proprietary AI platform integrates advanced image recognition to enhance the efficiency and quality of biomass processing. This technology is intended to lower costs and improve the quality of the resulting biomass for use in renewable energy applications.
Woodchuck has also engaged in disaster recovery efforts, working with municipalities to divert storm-damaged wood from landfills for biomass processing. The company's collaboration with NorthStar Clean Energy and CMS Energy involves supplying biomass to CMS Energy’s facilities in Michigan, aiming to provide a reliable energy source.
Woodchuck launched in September 2024 and established its global headquarters in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The company's approach focuses on providing a verifiable process, offering clients detailed reports on diverted materials, CO2 avoided, and clean energy produced.
Competitors in the waste management and renewable energy sectors include traditional waste haulers like Waste Management and Republic Services, which primarily focus on landfilling or general recycling. Biomass fuel producers such as Enviva also operate in the renewable energy space, but Woodchuck differentiates itself by specifically targeting construction and manufacturing wood waste with AI-driven processing for high-quality biomass conversion.
