Founded in 2017, Woodoo is a ClimateTech startup developing, patenting, and manufacturing new materials for the consumer, mobility, and building sectors. Woodoo transforms wood at the molecular scale, turning it into sustainable high-performance material alternatives to steel, glass, leather, and plastics, without sacrificing the planet’s health.
“There are three components in wood. All the problems of wood are due to lignin, which is the glue between the wood fibers. It is removed and replaced by a binding agent that creates much stronger molecular bonds. This also makes the wood completely inert to its environment,” CEO and co-founder Timothee Boitouzet told in an interview.
Lignin makes up about 25% of wood and is its “weak” building block, as it is food for insects and degrades over time. By replacing it with a bio-based filler, which changes depending on the wood type and end-use case, Woodoo can change the physical and optical nature of the material. The products Woodoo offers come in three forms:
- SLIM: see-through recyclable wood that can replace glass in touchscreen interactive displays on car dashboards or digital wooden displays.
- FLOW: animal-free replacement for leather.
- SOLID: lightweight but strong replacement for steel and aluminum in construction.
According to one study, the building and construction sector is on track to miss its 2050 net zero goals; it accounted for around 37% of energy and process-related CO2 emissions in 2021.
“The construction sector will need to build the equivalent of ten New Yorks each year to accommodate the boom in urban dwellers in the coming three decades,” Boitouzet said. “Future cities will need to be built higher, denser, faster, cheaper, and with a low environmental impact. This is precisely what Woodoo can provide.”
Currently, Woodoo has already established partnerships with global brands in the fashion luxury LVMH (the parent company of Louis Vuitton, Dior, Tiffany & Co., Sephora, Hennessy, and more), automotive (Volkswagen Group), and construction (Garnica) industries. The company also recently opened the doors of its second manufacturing site, which has a current production capacity of 14,000 square meters.
The Paris-based firm just secured $31 million in a mix of equity and debt. The funding round was led by Lowercarbon Capital with participation from Purple Ventures and One Creation. Around two-thirds of the new funding is formed of equity, with the addition of non-dilutive capital in the form of grants and venture debt.
“What made this important funding round possible is that we have been able to self-finance without external cash so far. I injected quite a bit of personal money, we won 44 innovation awards and of course, we sell products to customers,” Boitouzet said.
Woodoo will be using the funding to scale its manufacturing capacity and double its headcount over the next 18 months from its current size of 40 people. The company will also help address the otherwise irreconcilable problem of managing the construction we need while protecting the environment.
“The material industry is broken,” he says, “demand is skyrocketing, but traditional materials have prohibitive economic, social, and environmental tolls.”
Here’s the 8-slide pitch deck Woodoo used to raise a $31 million round.
What were the slides in the Woodoo pitch deck?
Browse the exact example slides from the pitch deck that Woodoo used to raise $31M in a round led by Lowercarbon Capital.
Removed by owner request. See original →
1. Cover Slide
Most people judge books by their covers and make snap judgments. Like it or not, potential investors are going to do the same with your idea/business – and you want those judgments to be positive ones. The cover slide is your chance to not only portray professionalism but also establish the identity of the company or project.
To establish brand recognition and convey the core values of the business, the cover slide should contain crucial details such as the company logo, name, and tagline or mission statement. Moreover, it should feature an aesthetically pleasing design that aligns with the company’s branding and style. Consistency in design fosters a cohesive and unforgettable experience for the audience.
Woodoo’s pitch deck’s cover slide is an excellent example of a professionally designed and inviting cover slide. The various visual elements are balanced, with a branded background image to visually demonstrate what the startup does. However, one minor improvement that could be made is the addition of Woodoo’s tagline, “Decarbonized materials for a new industrial revolution.” By incorporating the tagline, the cover slide would provide a clearer understanding of what the company does and stands for.
2. Problem Slide
The main goal of the problem slide is to effectively communicate the issue that the startup is aiming to solve and why that is significant. Many entrepreneurs make the mistake of focusing solely on selling their solution or product without adequately educating potential investors on the problem they are trying to solve. They may assume that the problem is obvious or that investors already understand the market need. However, failing to clearly communicate the problem can lead to confusion and missed opportunities.
A well-crafted problem slide also shows that the founders have done their research and understand the size and scope of the market need, which tells potential investors these are the right people to solve this problem. It is always a good idea to provide data and statistics to back up the problem.
The Woodoo pitch deck’s problem slide answers all the important questions investors might have to understand the issue at hand such as:
- What is the problem?
- Why is the solution needed?
- What’s the severity of the issue?
- Is there a market for the solution?
The text of the slide is incredibly concise and to-the-point, designed with easily readable fonts. The image used is also powerful and highlights how the open-pit mining approach (the main method of extracting steel and other resources) is destructive to the planet Earth. Overall, the problem slide is a great visual storyboard that assists investors in grasping the gravity of the issue.
3. Solution Slide
Investors ought to be curious about the solution after viewing a well-designed problem slide. It’s crucial to comprehend how they envision the solution, though. One study indicates that 28% of investors want problem tie-ins, 25% want visualization, 15% want short, punchy statements, and 7% want proprietary technology.
It is obvious that a good solution slide needs to have a solid connection to the stated problem. It seems straightforward enough in theory, but in practice, founders frequently launch into a lofty solution or vision statement that doesn’t entirely match their problem statement.
The Woodoo pitch deck’s solution slide ties in very nicely with the problem discussed earlier, positing that “Wood is the solution”. The slide then goes on to present some facts and figures to support this assertion.
Could the slide have put in more effort and made more assertive statements to support Woodoo’s tech? Yes. The company’s 50 patents, for instance, could be mentioned but interestingly, the founders weren’t really concerned about investors understanding the tech. “It’s not for VCs to figure out if your technology is viable and if there is a market,” Boitouzet said when asked how difficult it has been to raise money in the current climate. “We have already demonstrated both of those elements, and we’re using VC money to accelerate our business, so we didn’t have trouble raising money.”
How-to create your own pitch deck like Woodoo
We hope you learned something from the Woodoo pitch deck, and that you are able to use these insights for your own business. If you’d like to, you can bookmark it at bestpitchdeck.com/woodoo
Although it probably goes without saying that having a successful business (outside just their pitch deck) was integral to their success, it is critical for any startup to ensure your vision is portrayed properly. That’s where crafting the perfect pitch deck comes essential:
You might find our other resources on how-to create a pitch deck helpful, or benefit from using one of our expert-designed templates:
Our team has helped create decks that have closed over $100M+ in deals & funding for leading startups and even VC firms. You can leverage this experience and get a jumpstart on your pitch with one of our easy-to-use presentation templates, one-pagers, or financial models.
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Every pitch requires a unique approach tailored to its audience. Our team of experts has created pitch decks for different industries, as well as funding stages:
Cleantech & Green Energy Pitch Deck — You might be interested in the popular Cleantech Pitch Deck Template designed by our team of experts at VIP.graphics. This investor presentation template is built specifically for startups specializing in climate change, sustainability, emissions reduction, and renewable energy.
Accelerator Pitch Deck Template — The Accelerator Pitch Deck template was crafted for early-stage founders seeking to win funding &/or investment from pitch contests, accelerators, incubators, and angels or VC firms. Winning a pitch contest or being accepted to a prominent accelerator program requires a unique strategic approach to an investor pitch presentation.
Series A Pitch Deck Template — A pitch deck template for startups and founders raising funding: Smart, actionable slides that work. This is a pitch deck template built specifically for startups, entrepreneurs and founders raising their first seed or Series A round of institutional capital.
Mergers & Acquisitions Pitch Deck Template — Perfect Pitch Deck™ is a template crafted for later-stage businesses entering more sophisticated discussions such as mergers & acquisitions (M&A), late-stage investment (Series C+), or other partnerships & financing opportunities. Our team of experts created this presentation to empower founders to present with confidence to investment banks, private equity (PE) groups, and/or hedge funds (and vice versa).
Alternatively, feel free to browse our growing selection of pitch decks tailored for specific industries and businesses.