Press Release April 22, 2024
COLLABORATION BETWEEN CHAINON AND SOLAR INFO COMMUNITY IS BORN: THE 1ST SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITY IN THE FIELD OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY
The agreement opens the marketplace to Environmental-Social-Governance (ESG) sponsorships, the fastest-growing sector in Italy and the World. The partnership with the startup Solar Info Community, the largest national technology platform for collective self-consumption of renewable energy, developed with the support of the University of Bologna and the Tecnopolo of Rimini, is focused on “Solar Champions League,” a true National Championship between energy communities
ChainOn, following the developments foreseen by the business plan, expands sponsorship opportunities in the fastest growing sector in Italy and in the World, that of environmental and social sustainability (ESG: Environment-Social-Governance) which, in 2022, saw € 2.162 billion of investments in Italy (source: Socialis Observatory) with an annual growth rate of more than 10%.
It does so by entering into a partnership agreement with Solar Info Community srl, the start-up benefit company that owns the 1st technological platform for sharing sustainable electricity from domestic photovoltaic systems, divided by municipal territories i.e. with self-consumption sections in each municipality. The platform, called Solar Community, was developed with input from the Rimini Technopole and is managed by the nonprofit spin-off association of the same name at the University of Bologna, through the operation of the Center for Solar Communities. The project is carried out through the presence of municipal sections, which households can join easily by signing up as “solar citizens” and receiving the technology needed to share energy in the community.
Solar Info Community srl, to make the communication of companies’ commitment to sustainability more effective and periodic, has adopted a gamification model. The game, called Solar Champions League, is a real National Championship that has reached its 2nd edition in 2024 and is based on the competition between solar communities that compete weekly in a fun and rewarding way with shared energy. The 2024 edition began with Medicine, winner of the 2023 shield, issuing the challenge to the 31 teams currently registered.
Sponsors have numerous opportunities to match both the Championship in its entirety and the communities participating in the competition with the format, borrowed from Formula 1, of the Constructors’ Championship. The 2023 edition of the Constructors’ Championship was won by Geetit of Thermal Group (Bologna) followed by Renco (Pesaro) and Banca Di Bologna. In 2024, Omnicon is currently the only Official Sponsor of the Championship while companies such as Sgr Luce e Gas, Riviera Banca, Gas Sales Energia, and Ferbat are Main Sponsors of the participating communities.
If you want to know more about the Solar Champions League click here: www.chainon.it/solarchampionsleague
ChainOn, therefore, comes into play to give companies the opportunity to tie themselves to the Solar Champions League, with offers acquirable from €80 per month. Sponsors, in addition to gaining reputation, get unique and original visibility also in national events (e.g. E-day 2024) or in prestigious venues such as the Autodromo Enzo and Dino Ferrari in Imola, are guaranteed the requirements to obtain the best ESG Rating categories creating the conditions, due to the European Union and ECB regulations, to access new financing and attract new investors.
By accessing ChainOn, after a simple registration as “Investors”, companies will be able to:
- consult sponsorship proposals free of charge;
- negotiate, and close deals online quickly and securely, without paying any fees and fully deducting the investment in the operating budget.
STATEMENTS
Giovanni Palazzi (Founder e Ceo Chainon)
“Starting in December 2019, when the European Council approved the Green Deal, the legislative obligations of companies in relation to sustainable development related to environmental and social are becoming more and more stringent and, by 2026, will directly involve more than 49,000 small and medium-sized companies in Italy with important impacts on the 4 million VAT numbers operating in our country. At the same time, attention to these issues among people, especially younger people, around the world is strong and generates needs that businesses must deal with. Sponsorships represent an optimal form of communication to raise awareness and promote one’s commitment, as well as being a privileged lever to obtain ESG ratings and credits, requirements that will be more and more necessary every day to access bank credit, be compliant with the law and be competitive in the markets. ChainOn wants to be an important part of this significant change, and we are delighted that this begins with an agreement with Solar Info Community, whose innovative nature of the project stimulates us and with whom we share the values of reference and the young age of the company.”
Marinella Michelato (Ceo of Solar Info Community)
“The European Banking Authority issued in January 2024 guidelines for assessing a customer’s creditworthiness, within which the granting of credit will be increasingly conditioned by banks’ increasing verification of ESG Rating. We can category up the ESG Rating of any business through sponsorship of the Solar Champions League and participating Solar Communities.”
Prof. Leonardo Setti (President of Centro per le Comunità Solari and Università di Bologna Professor)
“This project transforms businesses into true solar city builders, because sharing electricity, produced from renewable sources locally, is an essential condition for ensuring access to energy services for everyone: the company itself, its employees and the general citizenry, but also those who would have had difficulty purchasing electricity because they are in energy poverty. Supporting this initiative will make it possible in the near future to have low-cost green energy for everyone by boosting the local economy and fostering more inclusive and sustainable cities.”
