• The consortium is made up of Inveniam, Símbiosy, Aeris Tecnologías Ambientales and RocaJunyent
• Bioboost aims to raise 30 million euros in investments in projects for the use of natural resources, industrial symbiosis and circular economy
• The new entity aims to be the accelerator of the bioeconomy in Catalonia, supporting and channelling investment for the development of this type of projects

Barcelona — 06/17/22 — The Bioboost consortium, which will provide technical and economic support over the next 4 years to industries, organisations and promoters wishing to develop projects to improve the use of natural resources, industrial symbiosis and circular economy, was launched on Friday 3 June. Bioboost, financed by the European Commission, will provide technical, economic and legal advisory services, which will be completely free of charge for the promoters of the selected projects.

Bioboost aims to be the accelerator of the bioeconomy in Catalonia. It was created with the aim of providing support and channelling investment for the development of this type of project. In this sense, the consortium has set itself the goal of obtaining 30 million euros in investments over the next 4 years for projects that take advantage of biological resources from the agricultural and industrial sectors, such as energy or waste material recovery projects, and circular economy projects.

The consortium in charge of leading the project is made up of the technical-economic consultancies specialised in sustainability Inveniam, Símbiosy and Aeris Tecnologías Ambientales, as well as the legal firm RocaJunyent.

"Bioboost will make it possible to develop complex bioeconomy projects that, although highly beneficial for the environment and for the parties involved, do not normally materialise due to their enormous complexity and high coordination costs", says Eric Suñol, managing partner of Inveniam. Suñol adds that "by disseminating the possibilities offered by technologies and good practices among the agents of the territory, but above all by accompanying developers on the long road of promoting and structuring projects, developments will attract investment to the territory and make it more sustainable".

"With Bioboost we will demonstrate how facilitation services shorten implementation times for viable projects and reduce investment risks," says Veronica Kuchinow, managing partner of Símbiosy, "These are systemic projects, i.e. projects that involve different actors in the value chain and different entities that need to come to an agreement".

"The selected projects will benefit from comprehensive legal advice, from the initial phase, which will allow them to adapt to the applicable sectoral regulations and anticipate any obstacle or administrative barrier that could condition the viability of their implementation. To this end, the Consortium will act as a facilitator in communication with regulatory agencies and competent public bodies and will help in the search for solutions to any legal difficulties identified", explains Sergi Chimenos, partner in charge of the Public Law Department at RocaJunyent.

Within the framework of the EU research and innovation framework programmes, Bioboost joins other projects related to the bioeconomy and the circular economy, such as the Finnish FlexSNG, the Belgian BECoop, or the Spanish BeonNAT and WaysTUP!.

The bioeconomy is an economic system that uses biological resources from land and sea and waste as inputs for food and feed production, as well as for industrial and energy production and the use of biological processes in sustainable industry. The European Bioeconomy Strategy expects the Bioeconomy to help modernise and strengthen the EU's industrial base, creating new value chains and greener and more cost-effective industrial processes, while protecting biodiversity and the environment.

The consortium will be presented in the coming months in meetings with different public and private agents in Catalonia, with the aim of attracting opportunities that can be transformed into bioeconomy projects.

• The Board of Directors will be composed of seven members, three of whom are women
• Joan Roca maintains the presidency of the governing body, with the renewal of the positions of Natalia Martí, Santi Pagès, Josep Pujolràs, Blanca Usón and Marlen Estévez, who continue as members, and Alex Llevat, who also continues as secretary

Barcelona, 10 May 2022. The General Meeting of RocaJunyent has unanimously approved the renewal of its Board of Directors for a four-year term of office. The decision of the partners reaffirms the project and roadmap of the firm, marked by innovation, sustainability, internationalisation and profitability and the necessary adaptation in the service required by the market.

Joan Roca continues to head the board as chairman, as well as the board members Natalia Martí, Santi Pagès, Josep Pujolràs, Blanca Usón, Marlen Estévez and Alex Llevat, the latter as secretary of the board. RocaJunyent's board of directors has seven members, three of whom are women.

The Corporate and M&A department is represented by the executive president himself, Joan Roca, as well as by Alex Llevat, a partner with extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, and Natalia Martí, sustainability advisor and specialist in the securities market, family protocols and compliance. Santi Pagès brings his experience in corporate transactions, impact investment and international transactions, from his leadership of the firm's LatAm Desk.

Josep Pujolràs is the managing partner of the Girona office, an economist and lawyer specialised in insolvency law and restructuring. For her part, the partner Blanca Usón is a renowned tax advisor, responsible for the comprehensive recurring taxation of national and multinational companies in the firm. Finally, the partner Marlen Estévez, who joined the firm's board of directors last year as a representative of the Litigation, Mediation & Arbitration area and as head of Innovation, has also renewed her position as a member of the board of directors.

After the general meeting, Joan Roca thanked the partners for their unanimous support to continue with the firm's roadmap. The executive president highlighted "the challenges that the firm has ahead in terms of internationalisation, the mainstreaming of services, growth and the development of new practice areas". Joan Roca added that "the firm's focus is on the new economy and sustainability, especially in fintech, blockchain, data protection and cybersecurity, EGS and impact investment, but without forgetting the areas of work that have made us strong to date". The different vision and backgrounds of each of the directors, not only because of the different specialised practices, but also because of their training and practice, their youth or seniority, as economists or as lawyers, offers a diversity and plurality that the law firm has always considered essential to address the challenges of the future.

As in the past, the Board of Directors will include the Audit and Control Committee, the Cooperation and Information Body and the Coordination Committee, made up of the department heads. Internally, the firm has an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee, a Corporate Sustainability Committee, a Career Plan Committee, an Appointments and Remuneration Committee, an Innovation Committee and an International Committee.

Access to the press release or the various news articles on the renovation. 

• El Confidencial. 
• El Jurista. 
• LawyerPress. 
• CincoDías. 

• Raúl Salas and Blanca Usón, partners in the Tax department, highlighted as Leading Individuals and Marlen Estévez, partner in the Litigation, Arbitration and Mediation department, highlighted in the directory as Next Generation Partner.

RocaJunyent consolidates its presence in the English Legal 500 EMEA directory. In total, 30 professionals from 6 different practice areas, 12 incorporated in this edition, have been highlighted in the guide.

Among the departments highlighted are Employment (Tier 3), Tax (Tier 3), Commercial, Corporate and M&A (Tier 4), Banking and Finance (Tier 5), Dispute Resolution (Tier 5) and Real Estate & Construction (Tier 5).

The professionals recommended by the directory include Rosa Rodríguez, Albert Rodríguez, María Garcia, Raúl Salas, Blanca Usón, Joan de Figarolas, Enric Moret, Elena Ferrer-Sama, Pilar Vacas, Jordi Guarch, Joan Roca, Xavier Altirriba, Carlos Blanco, Alex Llevat, Xavier Costa, Xavier Foz, Jordi Bermúdez, Joaquim Matinero, Joaquim Via, Marlen Estévez, Gonzalo Serrano, Pascual Sala, Santiago Espiau, María Gracia Llácer, Ana Just, Ana Lois Perreau, Xavier Serramalera, Maria Dolors Roca, Silvia Lopez and Roger Pla.

In this edition, Raúl Salas, partner in the Tax area, is featured again as Leading Individual for being “a partner of high standing, extremely committed on the project. He is a problem solver and totally dedicated to achieve results for his client”.

With regard to the year 2021, Blanca Usón, head of the Tax Department, has been highlighted as a Leading Individual thanks to being “a true expert in corporate tax matters. Maintains a very up-to-date knowledge of the subject”. Likewise, Marlen Estévez, partner of the Litigation, Arbitration and Mediation department, has been highlighted as Next Generation Partner for always being “accessible, proposing quick and creative solutions”.

References from our areas

• Employment: “The strengths of the team are communication with the client, experience and knowledge of the laws”.
• Tax: “Specific commitment to service excellence through a solution-oriented approach. Excellent track record in managing procedures with tax authorities. Outstanding and reliable”.
• Commercial, Corporate and M&A: “The Roca Junyent team has great legal knowledge and understanding of business reality. The work is carried out with rigor, punctuality and always offering a suitable solution. The documentation is correctly classified and is well tracked”.
• Banking and Finance: “It is a team that is always available and that is up to date with all the news in its field. They are at the height of much larger offices”.
• Dispute Resolution: “Great procedural knowledge, intense knowledge and interest in the company”.
• Real Estate and Construction: “Technical competence, practicality and availability”.

The RocaJunyent team wins with the B_ESG project, a tool to generate and maintain ESG metrics for companies.

Madrid, 29 March 2022. RocaJunyent has won the fourth edition of the Global Legal Hackathon Madrid 2022, the world’s largest competition on legal innovation and development of technological tools. This is the second consecutive edition of the event in which the law firm has achieved the first place. The team, made up of professionals from RocaJunyent and QUADRAM, won the award in the ESG x Blockchain category with the B_ESG project. 

The law firm presented the B_ESG tool, a technological solution that allows companies to generate, parameterise and maintain their metrics through Blockchain technology so that they are truthful and non-manipulable. In this way, companies have a repository with the evolution of their metrics so that, once all the information has been compiled, it can be sent to the external verifier.

The platform allows parameterisation, identification of Key Players, compliance and verification that the data entered is reliable —through the generation of Smart Documents with Blockchain technology— as well as improving the reputation of the companies.

The members of the participating team are Beatriz Rodríguez, Data Protection and Privacy partner, Mariano Renedo, lawyer in the M&A and Commercial area and Marina Gómez, Communication and Marketing specialist, together with the professionals from QUADRAM, a company specialised in the development of applications, Jorge Ardá and Elena Herrero. 

Beatriz Rodríguez, partner at RocaJunyent, highlights “RocaJunyent’s second consecutive victory in this event, in an initiative that arose from the firm’s Innovation Committee, which is evidence of the firm’s commitment to sustainability, digitalisation and new technologies”.

Jorge Ardá, partner at Quadram, explains “this Legal Tech Hackathon has been an inspiring and enriching experience for us. A real challenge against the clock to design the solution in 48 hours thanks to the ease of use of the Integra platform. We are very grateful to RocaJunyent for having counted on us to accompany them as a technology partner in this brief but intense adventure”.

In 2020, in the previous edition of the Global Legal Hackathon, RocaJunyent also won the award, in this case with the Iqualex solution, a data science software that allows the salary visualisation of each organisation. It calculates the wage gap of companies and organisations and discovers the biases that cause it in order to provide an automated protocol of measures that help correct it. Iqualex is also equipped with machine learning technology so that, with time and information, it can develop predictive models in relation to the effectiveness and real cost of deploying corrective measures.