Aglaia Capital has been recognized as one of the 20 Innovative Companies to Watch of 2021  by The Executive Headlines.

Below are the highlights of the interview conducted between The Executive Headlines and Ángela Álvarez, Founder and CEO of Aglaia Capital

Aglaia Capital  surge as an expression on my view on the industry where I have developed my professional career.

On traditional Corporate Finance, we are focused on Hotels, Real Estate, and in Alternative financing, mainly in Europe, selectively in other geographies, taking advantage of the access to opportunistic and better quality assets, a higher level of corporate M&A transactions expected, mainly, in hotel chains, and to capture value in new real estate asset classes related to new consumer habits, and also of our good relationship, with investors and funds, family offices, as well as a knowledge on their strategies, and their interest, with focus on trusted investors of our ecosystem 

Financing structures for Real Estate and Corporates, as well as off-market portfolios of Hotels, or Real Estate and Distressed Assets have been our core, which we are continuing adapting according to the demands of investors and sponsors. We have an extensive experience on transactions, applying traditional investment banking discipline and knowledge, going from simple to most complex situations, and from low to big sizes deals.

We have also a strong focus on Blockchain for financial services, Fintech, Digital assets, and tokenisations, which I believe that will be the new financial infrastructure. 

Combining both worlds, we have developed our own DeFi Platform for tokenisations, secutity tokens, deployed in Ethereum, which we will aim to focus it mainly on lifestyle Hotels, Real Estate, and new business models  from new consumer behaviours, as well as on digital assets aligned with our core values of Sustainability, Innovation, and impact to make a better world.

 

How successful was your first project roll on? Share the experience. 

I feel fortunate that myself and my company, Aglaia Capital, have attracted the interest since inception, being a continuity on the  activity I have had along my professional career, plus also evolved, combining it with technology such as blockchain.

On this type of activity there are a constant flow, and a continuous beginning that barely gives you the chance to celebrate any success. Nevertheless, every closing, or every success, are the inner fuel that make it easy start the next deal again.

What kind of responses have you received from your clients over the years? How have they motivated you to shape your offerings/grow the company? 

We usually follow the trends, and the demands of the clients. We are proud of knowing the ecosystem, the players, the sectors, and our industry well. The clients value also our independence, transparency, and the fact of having access to investors and deals that are not usually on the market.

On the Blockchain and tokenisations, an increasing interest in what we are doing have driven also a speed in the development of our own tokenization platform.

What challenges did you face in the initial years? What can your peers learn from it?

Entrepreneurship  is a challenge itself that gives you the opportunity to imprint your vision. When you start that process it is needed resilience, purpose, passion and a vision, all of that as well as a dose of serendinpity and some wonderful people that I found along my path drove me when I am now.

About the adaptability, how do you stay relevant to the consumer interests and needs in this high volatile market?

I go usually with the new trends and adapt accordingly. I think that in this new complex world being resilient, having a paradoxical thinking, and being able to work in and with a diverse group of people or environment will be a competitive advantage on the short term. I believe also that being able to adapt our industries to a more sustainable way will be vital in the short term also for the corporates.

If you have to list five factors that have been/are the biggest asset to your organization, what would they be and why?

• Knowledge and Experience, long track record in the finance and financial industry and in the sectors where we operate 
• We are a trustful partner, and advisor, where fairness and transparency are our ethos and the way we relate to others
• Innovation, Creativity and Technology. Own Blockchain developments: Aglaia Capital DeFi Platform for Tokenisations, mainly for securities. We can provide access to new technologies, and new financial infrastructure  
• Values: integrity, transparency, sustainability, diversity and impact to make a better world are at our ethos 
• Passion, we enjoy what we do, and do it with fully involvement 

 

Customer service varies, but companies can still be successful. How do you maintain the quality of your services?

We provide value added services which we keep at the highest standards

What do you feel are the reasons behind your company’s reputation?

My role as a founder I guess that has also an impact on this as I have been in this industry for all my professional career, and besides I have explored new technologies as a way to contribute in the developing of a new financial infrastructure 

A track record, successful completion of deals, our passion and adaptability on what we do, as well as our values make what it is also Aglaia Capital

How do you and your company contribute to the global IT platform and society at large?

Emerging technologies, such as blockchain attracted my interests some years ago as a way of solving most of the issues that I have found in the Financial industry along my professional career. Since then I started to explore the advantages that those can provide to my industry, which led me to develop a platform for tokenisations, with focus to securities, as a way to provide liquidity to some of our clients. My aim is combining blockchain with investment banking from the point of view of an insider, and from the knowledge and experience in both industries, as a way to contribute in the creation of a new financial infrastructure.

Do you have any new products or services ready to be/getting ready to be launched? 

We are about to launch Aglaia Capital DeFi Platform for Tokenisations developed with blockchain technology, mainly focused on digitalization of securities, security tokens, and connected to a secondary market of digital assets deployed in Ethereum 

This platform will provide funding for owners of assets wanting to sell and also provide investment opportunities  coming from the new economy 

On digital assets, as well, we are in a process of launching a digital asset, Cryptonhite, a security token deployed in Ethereum, hybrid between means of payment and investment product, which allows you to invest with an underlying asset, get an annual return, and reducing your carbon footprint, participating in venture capital aiming to sustainable investments. The token is linked to values such sustainability, innovation, and impact to make a better world, which are also in the essence of my company

About your plans, where do you see your company a couple of years from now? 

Aglaia Capital was born with a strong focus on traditional Corporate Finance, and on transactional technology for the Financial industry with blockchain, and in particular in tokenisations for security tokens, digital assets, which I think that will be developing 

On the traditional Corporate Finance business, consolidating us as a trusted reference for off-markets deals for Hotels, Real Estate and Alternative Financing, focusing on offf-market deals, and our trustful investors and funds ecosystem. 

In short term, we have been developing our own DeFi Platform for tokenisations, being ourselves also a Fintech 

We expect to increase the activity on digital assets, and with this new digital asset Cryptonhite are excited also to contribute to the creation of a new way to make investments, and also to contribute in making impact and sustainable investments.

Strong ambition to become Founder and CEO at Aglaia Capital, Ángela Álvarez

Angela has developed her professional career chairing executive international positions and boards in big entities and global banks, in Corporate Finance, Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A), Investment Banking, mainly focus in the Financial, Real Estate, Hotels, Restructuring and Alternative Financing sectors, as well as Fintech Blockchain that attracted her interest years ago 

She founded her company Aglaia Capital  with a view of combining traditional Corporate Finance with Blockchain, with a particular focus on tokenisations of securities, and digital assets, and having an affiliate company, a Private Office and Corporate Finance boutique in London. Speaker at Economic Forums, active in the international M&A, Fintech and Blockchain space, passionate about decentralised technologies and cooperation business models, Featured as Top Fintech Influencer, Top Women Leaders, To CEOs, and Elite league of innovative entrepreneurs, among others, as well as being awarded and her company with some innovation and other excellence awards since its inception.