Finboot: the Desafía Program startup automating environmental impact and compliance tracking

15.11.2024 09:00, Rita Longobardi

Meet Juan Miguel Pérez, CEO of Finboot. The sustainability startup provides a traceability solution to automate ESG record-keeping, create Digital Product Passports, and manage sustainability declarations and certifications. In December, Thomas and the other eight Desafía Team members will participate in a two-week immersive business program across Zurich, Bern, St Gallen, and Lausanne to establish sustainable growth pathways in Switzerland's innovative ecosystem.

Name: Juan Miguel Pérez
Location: Barcelona
Nationality: Spanish-Venezuelan
Graduated from: UPC Barcelona Tech
Job title: CEO
Number of employees: 22
Money raised: > EUR 6M

Juan is the CEO and co-founder of Finboot, a Green Supply Chain Management company working with the world’s largest capital-intensive organizations. Originally from Venezuela, emigrated to Spain in 2011. Juan has a strong technology background, he's an engineer by training with a PhD in physics, and a career focused on designing, building and delivering tech-enabled solutions to industrial ecosystems. This has given Juan a very broad set of skills across digital and industrial technologies. Those technological hard skills pair well with Juan's passion and strong stance on environmental sustainability. This allows him to help industry leaders leverage the power of digital to accelerate their path to net zero emissions and succeed in a more sustainable economic system. When he's not at work, you will very likely find him somewhere near the sea. It could be hiking, camping, or relaxing, but certainly it will be by the sea. 

Can you tell us who your product or solution helps, and how?
We help capital-intensive organizations to accelerate industrial decarbonization and we become a strategic partner for them to achieve their ESG and sustainability targets and to reach net zero emissions, all while improving operational efficiency and driving economic growth. Our Green Supply Chain Management solution, MARCO Track & Trace, helps these organizations gather, verify, and share the evidence-backed data that supports their sustainability claims. We specifically work with companies in the Energy, Chemicals, and Metals space helping them with traceability of sustainable fuels, renewable chemicals, circular packaging, and recycled steel. 

What market are you addressing and what is the potential of your startup in that market?
We primarily focus on the Energy, Chemicals, and Metals sectors. Already trusted by global industry leaders such as Repsol, SABIC, and Moeve (formerly Cepsa). Our solution is already helping enterprise clients globally with users in over 10 countries. 

What are your team’s key achievements to date?
Our customer traction and our scaled-up implementations in core industries are of course our biggest achievements. Repsol is a great example of a long-term relationship having worked with them since 2018 across multiple business units and product lines, our technology today spans all of their southern Europe operations in their renewable fuels and circular economy activity. 
We’ve also been highly recognized by independent awards on numerous occasions. Most recently the National Technology Award for Supply Chain Tech of the Year. The Logistik Heute and PwC Supply Chain smart solution award and shortlisted for The Spectator Economic Innovator of the Year. 

What do you expect from Desafìa, and how will it help you achieve your vision?
To us, the Desafía Program is an opportunity to start raising our profile in this new market, specifically in the sustainability space. We expect to start building relationships and connections which can be the root of long-lasting partnerships. 

Why Switzerland represents a great opportunity for you?
Switzerland as a market has an important presence in our key sectors. Additionally, as part of our expansion strategy we are looking to open the pharmaceutical and life sciences space to bring our decarbonization expertise to this new industry segment, where Switzerland of course is a global leader.