July 10, 2017 /3BL Media/ - Five teams of entrepreneurs from around the world have been chosen to participate in the newest cohort of the world’s only business accelerator program dedicated to bringing nature-inspired solutions to market.

 

Over 100 teams entered the 2017 Biomimicry Global Design Challenge, answering the call to apply biomimicry, or nature-inspired design, to develop solutions to reverse or adapt to climate change. In the open category, winning teams have been chosen to receive a cash prize and an invitation to enter the 2017-18 Biomimicry Accelerator, which culminates in the $100,000 Ray C. Anderson Foundation Ray of Hope Prize™. Their solutions include a reforestation system inspired by winged seeds, bromeliads, and forest leaf litter, a device inspired by baleen whales and African violet leaves that collects fine particulate matter in dense urban environments, and a circulatory system-inspired heating and cooling system.