You may remember Strong by Form from JEC World 2025, where it won the Startup Booster’s Sustainability Award for its timber-based material alternatives. But if you don’t, now is the time to start paying attention to this new materials company.
In the words of its CEO, Andrés Mitnik, it is now much more than a “promising startup” — in big part thanks to this award. Like a locomotive gaining momentum, the company has embarked on a fast-moving journey toward commercial deployment, with key corporate partnerships.
If you are curious about Strong By Form’s backstory, make sure to check out the Selected podcast episode in which Andrés was our guest. Here, we have you covered with the latest you should know about Strong By Form’s technology, its plans, and the learnings that Andrés can share with other founders in the composites space.
Sesamers: How would you briefly describe what your technology does?
Andrés Mitnik: Strong by Form uses nature as a blueprint. Our Woodflow® technology mimics how trees build strength—layering fibers only where needed—to create timber components that are ultra-light, structurally sound, and ready to replace concrete or aluminum in buildings and mobility.
We do this without modifying the wood—just better design, smarter fiber orientation, and digital manufacturing.
Sesamers: Can you share a concrete example of how it can be used?
AM: Sure—take Woodflow-core, our hollow-core slab for buildings. It’s 10 meters long, about 20% the weight of reinforced concrete, and designed to reduce foundation loads, crane time, and emissions—while aiming for price parity at scale. It’s ideal for office and commercial assets using industrialized construction.
We’ve also collaborated with BMW to develop structural automotive parts using a technique we call Stamped Wood—leveraging Woodflow’s fiber control and digital design to create high-performance components that are 7% lighter than aluminum with up to 85% lower CO₂ footprint.
AM: In parallel, we’re working with leading rail operators like NS and Deutsche Bahn and multiple train manufacturers to apply Woodflow in ultralight train interiors—especially ceilings and panels—where weight reduction directly translates into energy and emissions savings over a train’s lifecycle.
Sesamers: How did winning the JEC Startup Booster change your business?
AM: It helped shift perception. JEC brought us visibility in the composites world—but more importantly, credibility. Suddenly we weren’t just “a promising startup”—we were on the map for serious industrial players, investors, and certification partners. It opened conversations that normally take months to earn.
Sesamers: What are the most significant milestones you’ve hit since winning? Any surprises?
AM: We’ve hit a few big ones:
- Finalized a 4m long prototype of Woodflow-core. This was tested at Gropyus in a real-world scenario, allowing us to achieve a TRL 5.
- Ran a 25-ton bending test on our Woodflow-core slab—the machine maxed out before the slab broke.
- Secured a new project with BMW for 2026
- Opened our Milan and Paris showrooms
- Unveiled our sustainable ultra-light train ceiling in Utrecht.
The surprise? Rail and mobility picked up faster than we expected. Our tech was built for buildings—but Deutsche Bahn, Talgo, and others came to us for ultralight interiors.
Sesamers: What’s your top priority for 2026?
AM: Finalizing and testing our 10m slab prototype to secure the funding for our first pilot manufacturing plant online. That’s the leap from R&D to commercial deployment. It will enable us to certify, scale, and deliver our first full-scale building projects. It’s going to be a $10 million round to be opened in October.
Now that we’ve been selected as one of the 200 most promising startups by TechCrunch, we’re also looking to expand into the US market, where regulation and industrialized construction trends are aligning with what we offer.
Sesamers: What’s the one thing you wish you’d known about the composites industry before starting?
AM: That performance numbers aren’t enough—you need to understand the ecosystem around deployment. From certification to logistics to installability, it’s not just about having a breakthrough material.
It’s about fitting into the real-world workflows of builders, engineers, and regulators. We learned that quickly—and designed Woodflow to slot right in.
Note: This article is part of a commercial collaboration between JEC and Sesamers. Our team retained full editorial control over the questions and final content.