Among the 75 companies that make up the Cupa Group is Cupa Innovación, which since its birth in 2006 has led more than 40 R&D&I projects and has obtained more than 20 international patents in the sector. The activity carried out by the multinational, whose origins lie in the slate quarry Solana de Forcadas (Ourense), covers the entire value chain of natural stone, dedicated to creating innovative solutions to improve energy efficiency and sustainability in the world of construction by creating new products.

Cupa Innovación was created with the aim of centralising the innovation efforts being made by the different companies in the group in a single company, with the idea that all of them could take advantage of synergies and maintain an R&D&I team separate from the operations, production and quality departments, operating independently, but in constant communication and cooperation with the different business units. In addition to bringing high added value products to the market and improving the company's industrial processes, Cupa Innovación generates value in the Galician economy as a driving force that collaborates with universities, laboratories, technology centres and SMEs, developing prototypes and validating them in accordance with different European regulations.

Generating highly skilled employment in the rural areas where its production centres are located is another of the company's contributions, which carries out all its R&D&I activities in Galicia and within a key sector for the economy, such as mining, which creates 2.5 indirect jobs for every direct job created. "Positioning Cupa Group as a driving company that invests in digitising and integrating the latest technologies in its processes, produces a cascade effect that makes supplier companies grow, attracts talent, generates qualified employment and promotes the establishment of SMEs in Galicia", according to the Cupa Innovation team.

In recent years, its team of engineers, based in Vigo, has promoted the modernisation of the organisation's own production processes with more efficient extraction technologies, Industry 4.0 (Big Data, internet of things, artificial intelligence and advanced robotics) and research into the concept of the circular economy for waste recovery.

Its manager also highlights the work carried out by the company in terms of "modernising the slate production process, developing new applications with this material and more efficient construction systems, as well as waste recovery in the pursuit of a second life for our raw materials".

Developing efficient construction solutions is one of the company's main raisons d'être. The Cupaclad natural slate ventilated façade system, Thermoslate natural slate thermal panels, Stonepanel natural stone pre-assembled panels and Thermochip sandwich panels for envelopes are good examples of this.

Cupa Group's material is produced or selected paying special attention to each country's requirements and according to the official regulations that apply depending on the area, with the aim of offering the best solution to the customer. Its products comply with the highest international quality standards, certified by public institutes and private entities, which allow them to enter the markets and positively evaluate their performance, thus differentiating them from the competition. This quality guarantee endorsed by independent bodies is internally complemented with product tests, periodic quality controls and traceability systems that allow us to track the state of the material from its origin to its final destination.