Supersede, a marine-grade plywood supplier, closed a $10 million funding seed round. Co-founders Sean Petterson and Jordan Darling said the supplier would use the funds to scale production, including building a new factory.
Funding participants included a major U.S. building products distributor and multiple angel investment groups.
Petterson said, “The funding is effectively to keep up with demand. We know we are a new player, but we have quickly learned that in order to operate with these large OEMs, we have to have the volume.”
Petterson said RV manufacturers have shown interest in the company’s marine board product since its introduction last October at a marine trade show.
“We have orders in varying stages,” he said. “Some of the OEMs got on board a little earlier than others. The orders are from across the spectrum.”
The Marine Board can replace plywood in many instances in the RV manufacturing process, the founders said. The marine board is 100% waterproof. The board is made from recycled polypropylene. The company said its panels will outperform traditional plywood in water resistance, fastener retention, compressive strength and durability.
Darling said his family’s involvement in the construction industry led him to reach to the market first. Supersede’s clientele evolved from there.
“As we were getting ready to jump into the construction industry, we saw this immediate need in the RV and boating industries,” Darling said. “A lot of these manufacturers were trying to find ways to engineer wood on their vehicles, and they were actively testing different alternatives. Some of the initial feedback we were getting was that there are a lot of alternatives out there, but nothing is as good as wood or a one-to-one replacement.”
The company offers half-inch and three-quarters-inch thick marine boards that are 4 feet wide and can be cut in various lengths. Petterson said the half-inch panel is the most popular with RV OEMs.
“With our product, there is no waste,” Petterson said. “We can trim it right at the desired dimension, which is a nice value add in a number of ways.”
Petterson said RV slide outs are an ideal place for the marine board.
“I would say the RV industry is really promising,” he said. “There is a much faster impetus to change the entire production over more quickly (in RVs).”
Supersede also runs a buyback program to support closed-loop recycling. Offcuts and end-of-life products can be reprocessed into new boards, helping manufacturers achieve zero-waste targets. The recycling option was a selling point for one investor.
Closed Loop’s Kristin Taylor said, “We see opportunity for more efficient materials management in the built environment, a sector that often sees high rates of material loss to landfills, and now faces material shortages and delays. Supersede is using post-industrial feedstock that is otherwise unrecoverable in traditional recycling markets today. By turning this material into durable building products, Supersede is accelerating a more domestic, value-added, resilient circular economy.”
