ZinniX, 3D-printed bioprinted wood

With millions of tons of trees being cut down annually, each one damages our environment more than the last. Over 200 million trees are cut daily for furniture, construction planks, and other commercial items. Atmospheric CO2 is increasing faster than trees can absorb CO2, and deforestation is disrupting ecosystems, leading to species extinction. Although we may think the solution lies in policy, recent breakthroughs in biotechnology have shown otherwise, and our team sees an opportunity to create an innovative solution to the Deforestation Crisis.

Current alternative wood materials, like bamboo or hemp, offer many benefits but do not have the same diverse range of functionality as wood. Our beachhead market strategy begins with targeting customers interested in artesian products and working towards our target market–the construction industry, representing a significant opportunity for growth and impact. We offer a sustainable and customizable product which will have a myriad of use cases and appeal to a diverse range of buyers. We hope to solve the deforestation crisis with a cost-efficiency strategy and waste-conscious, customizable products.

ZinniX is at the cusp of bioprinting and cellular agriculture, targeting deforestation by using Zinnia Elegans cells to fabricate wood products precisely. This is possible through several steps. The Zinnia leaves are softened to extract the cells safely. The cells are then transported to a growth medium gel, inducing rapid cell growth and keeping them safe from exterior diseases. Then, the cells are transferred to a low-hormone gel, incubated for 48 hours, and exposed to high amounts of hormones such as auxin and cytokinin. These hormones help with chloroplast development and function, cell division, cell structure, and cell shaping.

Those cells are then isolated to create a liquid suspension culture and mixed with a biopolymer gel, making the cells extrudable by our bio-printer. The idea arose while conducting root cause analysis on climate change, specifically deforestation. We identified some of the most significant factors to deforestation, being cutting for materials, and decided to make that our point of focus, building ZinniX around the idea of eradicating deforesting for the purpose of commercial and non-commercial wood usage.

Our innovation allows furniture, construction, and possibly paper companies to have a cost-efficient option for a sustainable future while reducing CO2 emissions in the environment. Companies would face fewer limits and ethical considerations when producing wooden products, as zinnia plants are very commonly found and only a few cells are needed to get the process of creating the bio-ink started. Individuals who have the drive to impact climate change will have a durable, sustainable, and customizable, for their wooden products, as we want to eliminate the need of deforesting billions of trees for the purpose of the material.

Our team comes from a diverse and underrepresented background. As a group of passionate individuals looking to create change, we believe we are the right people to deliver this solution because we come from the communities that we intend to serve, and hope to uplift and change the situation for people like ourselves. Our team lead is an individual who had grown up in a low-income, multi-housing community. Aqsa understands and appreciates the bond of community that comes from living in this situation, and hopes that by contributing to low-income communities she can improve the housing situations while creating safe and sustainable solutions for individuals to continue living in these communities and help people flourish to their full potential. 

The ZinniX team takes inspiration from the world around us to create our innovation. We came to create our innovation by researching and realizing the severity of climate change, and the effect it will have in the future. With all this in mind, we continue to improve our innovation through real-world exploration and plan to continue doing so through volunteer work in our community to understand the needs and listen to the voices of the underrepresented communities we strive to support.

We have solidified our idea and created online prototypes for the major components of our startup, and now moving on to the testing phase. We plan to find a lab to test our hypothesis and make the cultured wood, purchase Zinnia Elegans cells, various hormones, and incubation material, and convert a regular 3D printer to a 3D bioprinter. As most of our technical research needs to be done hands-on, we plan on filling the gaps in the project's specifics once we have a chance to test our developed bio-ink with the printer, making adjustments as more trials are conducted.

As of now, our solution is aimed at creating sustainable wood for larger construction projects, such as multifamily housing. We aim to serve companies affiliated with low-income housing and multifamily housing within Canada, and then expand into further regions in the future. Currently, we cannot estimate the number of people the solution serves, but we hope to have an impact on many people with our innnovation.

Through applying, we hope the funding can support our plan to support the testing of our innovation by beginning trials into the scientific process behind our innovation. This includes acquiring lab materials, hormones/cells, a bio-printer, and other resources. Moreover, we would enter other competitions and networking opportunities to build our network, provide valuable exposure for ZinniX and leverage our potential. If our team wins the solve challenge, we would allot most of the award to lab and prototype development efforts, and the leftover to support the development of our brand and marketing efforts, creating awareness that impactful technology is on its way to making an impact.

Overall, the funding would be instrumental in helping us achieve our goal of revolutionizing the construction industry and combating the deforestation crisis. With the right resources and support, we believe that we can create a sustainable and scalable business that has a positive impact on the environment and society. We want to use the funding to work towards creating a successful 3D-printed wood prototype. With that, we’ll gain investors’ trust, catapulting ZinniX to fulfill its full potential.

Barriers to implementing our solution include achieving correct cell alignment, finding suitable hormones, and creating the bio-ink. Since we plan on using a bioprinter, cell alignment is difficult as the formed gel is incubated and cells can develop further. Additionally, finding suitable hormones to create a more wood-like texture and perfecting the bio-ink to optimize post-printing fidelity will be difficult. We aim to overcome these barriers by finding lab space, testing our bio-ink hormones, and working towards transforming a 3D printer into an extrusion-based bio-printer. Through the support of mentors and partners, we hope to work alongside some of the greatest minds to help us turn our visions and goals into a reality.

Our product is innovative and has several unique aspects that set it apart from traditional wood manufacturing. The ability to print wood allows for customization and design flexibility which are not easily achievable in traditional wood making. This allows room for many architectural and artistic projects to grow. Due to the sustainability and resource efficiency aspect of this concept, this project will minimize the environmental impact associated with transportation and deforestation, which the current lumber industry has not yet implemented. In addition to the positive impacts, the unique technology used behind this process is highly innovative in itself.

For the next year, our goal is to further and knowledge and develop some lab trials to implement the research we have discovered. In the next five years, we see ourselves working towards making our products available to consumers and being able to impact our local and international communities. We plan to achieve them by setting goals for ourselves for shorter periods of time. As a team, we believe in setting timelines and deadlines for ourselves to achieve our goals.

Our team comes from a diverse background. As individuals coming from different ethnic groups, ages, and regions we have come together through our passion for using technology and business to create an impact in climate change. We strive to work together to uplift the underrepresented and provide opportunities to individuals who need it the most to reach their full potential.

ZinniX uses a top-down business model to gain revenue and help create a more affordable option for our consumers. Similar to Tesla's distribution strategy, we hope to use a beachhead strategy that first caters to high-end luxury clients. By creating high-quality, artisanal products we plan to distribute those to those who can afford lavish items, creating high revenue. Once the revenue is gained to cover costs such as production, and distribution costs, we plan to cater our products to a new consumer market, with more affordable products. The end goal is that through the high-end approach, we can gain enough revenue to create products that are affordable for all, specifically for construction projects created by both the government and private contractors. 

ZinniX's goal is to raise funds through grants, awards and investments. Using those funds, we will be building our products and services, which will then be sold to governments, contractors, and other consumers through our top-down business model.

ZinniX has won the Ingenious+ award for the British Columbia region and has received funding to support the innovation. Currently, the innovation is being judged for the national award, which would include $10,000 CAD to further support our research and prototype building.