ACCIONA PRESIDENT José Manuel Entrecanales, and FIDES Group become Onyx Solar shareholders

José Manuel Entrecanales became Onyx Solar shareholder

The JME Foundation will participate in the Onyx Solar capital with a convertible participative loan. This commitment will be signed by the JMEF who will invest jointly with the Fides Group (Promotion of Innovation and Sustainable Development), recently formed by leading Spanish entrepreneurs in order to co-finance innovative business projects. Onyx Solar is a Spanish company that develops intelligent solutions for the integration of photovoltaic technology in buildings, and its new products have awaked the interest of the Foundation primarily for their efficiency. Buildings are responsible for 40% of global energy consumption and the solutions proposed by this company are heading towards a significant reduction of the energy bill. The solutions developed by Onyx Solar replace conventional building materials for smart photovoltaic materials in ventilated façades and roofs, curtain walls, skylights, walkable floors, etc.  The idea is to create building envelopes with photovoltaic properties making it possible to generate clean and free energy from the sun and being also an aesthetic and viable solution.

About Onyx Solar

The solutions developed by Onyx Solar combine active and passive elements. Among the first ones, the in-situ electricity generation is the most important because it can be used for self-consumption or sold to the grid at a previously established price generating significant revenues. Passive elements are related to the design of the building to improve energy efficiency, increasing the insulation and reducing the energy needs of the construction.

Onyx Solar has been chosen partner of the European Commission in recognition for the design of the transparent photovoltaic skylight installed in the new San Antón market in Madrid. Onyx Solar has a multidisciplinary team made up of physicists, engineers and architects who design from their Castile and Leon headquarters, photovoltaic materials that are integrated into buildings throughout the world and help to reduce CO₂ emissions. In addition to this, it has also been acknowledged as the company with most growth potential in Europe, an award given at the European Entrepreneurship Awards.

The company has offices in New York and Shanghai and has recently received the XXI Entrepreneur Award from La Caixa in the “Emprendes” category.

About the JME Foundation

José Manuel Entrecanales Foundation for Innovation and Sustainability, set up in November 2009, includes among its main objectives the promotion of innovative business initiatives that contribute to sustainable economic development providing financial and technical support.

The other purpose of this foundation is to promote and contribute to the inclusion of the concepts of sustainability since the earliest levels of education. In addition to the efforts made in bringing sustainability to universities and schools, the Foundation also aims to promote the entrepreneurial spirit of students with various practical programs.

About the FIDES Group

It’s an investment group made up of renowned entrepreneurs such as Claudio Aguirre, Altamar Private Equity CEO; Jaime Castellanos, Willis Iberia and Lazard CEO for Spain; Ignacio de la Rica, Hepacyl Therapeutics CEO and Unidad Editorial board member; Daniel Entrecanales, Revolution PR agency CEO; Juan Ignacio Entrecanales, Acciona vicepresident; Jaime Espinosa de los Monteros, Amper CEO; Fernando Rodés, Havas vicepresident; Juan Antonio Samaranch, GBS Finances founder, and Manel Torreblanca, Barcel Euro Group CEO, among others. The objective of this initiative is to promote products, process and business models development fostering a sustainable development.

Sustainability Investing: New Ways to Valuate Companies

In the aftermath of the recent financial crisis and given rising concerns regarding sustainability challenges such as global warming or resource and water scarcity, there is growing evidence that institutional investors are increasingly reconsidering their investment approaches, and are how seeking more responsable and sustainable forms of investing. In a study published in 2008, management consultants Booz & Company forecast that by 2015 between 15 and 20% of the world’s assets under management will be managed according to Sustainability and responsible Investing principles.

At SAM they have released an annual Corporate Sustainability Assessment base don a questionnaire used to measure the sustainability performance of more than 1,200 companies. The questions address a range of issues that are long-term in nature, have an impact on corporate financial performance and are under-researched in traditional financial analysis. SAM integrates the information from the Assessment into its traditional financial valuation.

SAM’s Corporate Sustainability Assessment is also a powerful form of engagement, as its results enable companies to benchmark their sustainability performance against their peers and thus evaluate their strengths and weaknesses with regard to their sustainability strategies. Thus, companies such as Coke or Inditex are designing all its new stores and buildings according to sustainability and energy efficiency principles, being aware that more and more, to be sustainable can mean to be more competitive.

You can check out the report here.