3.8 billion years of natural R&D

For 3.8 billion years, nature has been experimenting, testing, perfecting.

It has engineered structures lighter than steel, networks more efficient than our algorithms, systems capable of self-regulation and infinite regeneration.

In France, a pioneering team decided to draw from this natural R&D to reinvent innovation itself. That’s how Ceebios, the Center for Studies and Expertise in Biomimicry, was born.

Now based in the heart of Paris, at the Climate House, Ceebios unites scientists, engineers, and designers around one conviction: learning from life to transform our industries.

It’s also within this ecosystem that Asteria emerged, continuing the mission to turn nature-inspired strategies into a driver of sustainable innovation.

What is Ceebios? From a French initiative to Europe’s biomimicry hub

Founded in 2015 as a non-profit organization, and structured today as a Cooperative Society of Collective Interest (SCIC), Ceebios brings together leading public and private actors, from the French National Museum of Natural History to pioneering companies in sustainable innovation.

Its ambition: to make biomimicry a lever for systemic transformation by connecting fundamental research, education, and industry around the living world.

Together, they are laying the foundations of a regenerative innovation model across France and Europe.

As explained by Kalina Raskin, Director General of Ceebios and physicist-neuroscientist:

"Biomimicry is not simply imitating nature, but understanding its principles to design more efficient and sustainable solutions. For ten years, we have been building bridges between biology and industry."

Ceebios in numbers: 10 years of impact (2015-2025)

• 150+ industrial R&D projects supported across housing, materials, energy, and cosmetics
• 400+ French biomimicry actors mapped and networked
• 3 thematic working groups active (materials, architecture, energy, health…)
• International network deployed across Europe, Japan, and the United States

What does Ceebios actually do? A complete biomimicry ecosystem

Through three complementary pillars, Ceebios has become one of the international centers of reference for biomimicry, fostering the growth of a vibrant and collaborative network worldwide.

Supporting R&D through nature-inspired strategies

Since 2015, Ceebios has supported more than 150 industrial projects across sectors such as housing, materials, energy, and cosmetics.

Its approach builds on five PhD theses, combining scientific expertise, systemic understanding, and cross-sectorial insights, to connect biological strategies with industrial challenges.

From energy efficiency to resource circularity, from material performance to ecosystem-inspired urban planning, Ceebios helps companies rethink their R&D through nature’s lens.

Its structured biomimetic methodology enables organizations to transform natural inspiration into measurable innovation. For all these industrial challenges, life offers relevant, proven, and sustainable solutions.

Among the companies that trust Ceebios: EDF, Pierre Fabre, L'Oréal, Michelin, RTE, Saint-Gobain, Vicat, Volvo, and dozens of innovative SMEs across France.

Training and Connecting the French biomimicry ecosystem

Beyond industrial R&D, Ceebios educates and federates.

It facilitates thematic working groups, builds academic partnerships with Universities and Grandes Ecoles, and co-supervises CIFRE doctoral theses that bring together biology, engineering, and design.

This systemic approach has enabled the mapping of over 400 French biomimicry actors and the creation of international connections across Europe, Japan, and the United States, forming a true ecosystem of expertise.

Ceebios also coordinates regional projects in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Hauts-de-France and Région Sud, structuring territorial biomimicry sectors to serve local employment and innovation.

Establishing the future standards of biomimicry

Ceebios doesn't just support projects, it helps shape the future standards of a responsible and scientifically robust biomimicry industry.

In partnership with ADEME (the French Environment and Energy Management Agency), Ceebios has defined the principles of responsible biomimicry, ensuring that drawing inspiration from life truly serves ecological transition — rather than becoming mere marketing rhetoric.

Through the BiOMIg program, Ceebios has been paving the way for a new generation of tools and methods dedicated to modeling and simulating biological strategies, making them more accessible to engineers, designers, and researchers.

This program has directly led to the creation of Asteria, an initiative designed to accelerate and scale biomimetic innovation through data and AI.

By combining scientific rigor, ethical foundations, and digital innovation, Ceebios continues to act as a trusted reference and third party for public authorities, industries, and the academic community alike.

A decade of impact on ecological transition: Ceebios' major achievements

Over the past ten years, Ceebios has helped move biomimicry from the laboratory to public policy and industry.

Influence on French public policy

• CESE opinion on biomimicry (2015): Ceebios contributed to the Economic, Social and Environmental Council report led by Patricia Ricard, recommending the integration of biomimicry into national innovation strategies.
• ADEME partnership (since 2019): Co-definition of responsible biomimicry principles to avoid greenwashing and ensure measurable ecological impact.
• France Strategy (2020): in partnership with Myceco, organization of a symposium bringing together industry, research, and public institutions to amplify the collective momentum in service of national sovereignty.
• Parliamentary office for the evaluation of scientific and technical choices (2021): consultation for the drafting of a scientific note for the national assembly. 

Structural projects and industrial partnerships

• BiOMIg: A federating project mobilizing L'Oréal, EDF, RTE, and other major groups to develop bio-inspired solutions at an industrial scale.
• European projects : Ceebios is regularly involved in international collaborations in order to contribute its multidisciplinary expertise and its ability to foster dialogue between research and application (e-SCALED, COST RESTORE, InNature, Nature4Nature…).

Media reach and public outreach

The organization is regularly cited in Le Monde, France Inter, TF1, La Recherche, and other national media as France's biomimicry reference.

Within its cooperative, Ceebios hosts strong initiatives in terms of communication and deployment of the bio-inspired approach: Biomim’Expo (by NewCorp Conseil), Nature=Future (by La Belle Société Production), biomimicry master class (Sator)...

Who are the Ceebios experts? A high-level multidisciplinary team

Led by Kalina Raskin, physicist and neuroscientist, Ceebios brings together biologists, engineers, designers, and researchers. Profiles that may seem distant, yet all guided by the same intuition: nature doesn't separate, it connects.

Among the experts who have contributed to Ceebios' mission are Eliot Graeff, Nikolay Tchakarov, and dozens of associated researchers from the French National Museum of Natural History, CNRS, and European universities.

This culture of interdisciplinary cooperation is the strength of the Ceebios network and its ability to transform science into concrete solutions.

How did Ceebios and Anima create Asteria? When expertise meets technology

A natural collaboration between science and scale-up

In 2020, winner of a future investment program, operated by BPI France, Ceebios launched the BiOMIg project, a research project aimed at pushing the frontier of biomimetic tools and methods. The results became the foundation of Asteria.

For four years, several Ceebios experts, including Eliot Graeff and Nikolay Tchakarov, now Asteria co-founders, helped build this bridge between science and technology, ensuring data quality and relevance.

From this dynamic came a simple idea: what if the scientific knowledge accumulated by Ceebios could be made accessible to all companies, even without biologists on their teams?

This vision resonated with Anima, a venture studio dedicated to impact projects.

One brought ten years of biomimetic expertise and a unique biological knowledge base, the other the ability to scale and deploy innovation through technology and artificial intelligence.

From their collaboration, Asteria was born.

What is Asteria? The digital professional infrastructure for biomimicry

Born from Ceebios’ decade of research, Asteria builds upon a scientifically validated biological database of more than 680,000 nature-inspired strategies, structured for innovation and R&D.

Using artificial intelligence, Asteria has transformed the biomimetic methodology into an accessible digital infrastructure, preserving Ceebios’ scientific rigor while extending its reach worldwide.

Several Ceebios experts, Eliot Graeff, Nikolay Tchakarov, Thomas Peybernes, Adrien Saint Sardos, Anneline Letard, and Luce-Marie Petit, contributed to shaping this bridge between science and technology, ensuring data accuracy, biological relevance, and methodological consistency.

Today, Asteria turns ten years of Ceebios research into a powerful AI platform that enables innovation teams to:

• Explore 680,000+ biological strategies in seconds
• Discover bio-inspired solutions to their technical challenges
• Apply biomimetic methodology without requiring a biology PhD
• Model and simulate concepts in 3D, identify key parameters, and access 220,000+ biomimetic patents, technology suppliers, and laboratories

Asteria provides instant, scalable access to nature’s 3.8 billion years of R&D, empowering innovators to build the future through the lens of life.

Why Ceebios remains essential for Asteria's future: a scientific foundation guaranteeing quality

Ceebios remains a shareholder and scientific partner of Asteria, guaranteeing data quality and methodological evolution. This partnership anchors Asteria in research precision and the creativity of nature.

With Ceebios, industrial and scientific expertise keeps growing. With Asteria, this expertise becomes a standard.