Scaling

This card helps you identify and address social acceptance challenges in your biodesign project, such as material choices or breaking traditional benchmarks.

• How will you approach the challenge of making biodesign materials and concepts more socially acceptable, particularly when they deviate from conventional norms and challenge established industrial benchmarks or standards?

• How will you educate and communicate with stakeholders (e.g., consumers, clients, or regulators) about the value and potential of biodesign innovations, overcoming skepticism?

Mycoworks - Hermès

MycoWorks, a biotech company, developed the "Fine Mycelium Platform," a technology that produces strong, flexible, drapable, and textured materials entirely from mycelium. Collaborating with the renowned fashion brand Hermès, they designed a fully biobased vegan purse. By mimicking the look and feel of leather, MycoWorks addressed potential social acceptance challenges surrounding the use of fungi in fashion. 

• Educate stakeholders early about the benefits and potential of your biodesign innovations. 

• Anticipate skepticism and try to find ways to align with societal expectations, like adapting to established norms.