
A wall-mounted solid wood cat climbing system designed by a Chinese team recently raised over $500,000 on the international crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, far exceeding its goal. Its core selling points — “space-saving, multi-cat shared, all solid wood” — precisely addressed the pain points of urban cat owners in Europe and the US. Interestingly, the design inspiration came from three cats living in a 45-square-meter apartment in Shanghai. The founder observed that walls were the only unused vertical space. The product has now been nominated for the German Red Dot Design Award, making it the first original Chinese design in the pet furniture category to receive this honor.