Companies are constantly under pressure to increase the pace of their innovation. And more money is spent on research and development (R&D) every year. According to R&D World, $2.4 trillion is expected to be spent in 2021 alone.
Singapore company PatSnap began as an IP directory and has since grown its IP management capabilities with analytics and AI-based technologies, including computer vision, machine learning, and natural language processing. The company’s IP management platform connects 116 jurisdictions, 140 million patents, and more than 250 million innovation data points worldwide, putting that data into a searchable database, according to the vendor.
PatSnap serves more than 10,000 customers and 100,000 users around the globe, including big names such as Disney, Tesla, PayPal, and Spotify, and claims it helps them launch their products three times faster. The company is supported by more than 700 employees working from the company's Asian headquarters in Singapore, European headquarters in London, and North American headquarters in Toronto.
Updated with real-time data presented in easy-to-read dashboards, the platform enables enterprises to track their own patents. The platform can help users conduct Freedom to Operate (FTO) searches, which gauge the risk of patent infringement, and search for prior art.
Now PatSnap has announced it has secured $300 million in Series E funding, led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Tencent Investment with participation from CPE Industrial Fund and existing investors Sequoia China, Shun Wei Capital, and Vertex Ventures.
“We believe AI is radically changing industries, and PatSnap is a technology leader using AI to enable companies to innovate faster using IP data and R&D analytics,” said Eric Chen, a Managing Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers.
PatSnap plans to use the funds to further advance its innovation intelligence platform, accelerate product development, and acquire additional domain expertise in the industry sectors where its technology is used by R&D and IP teams. The funds will also enable PatSnap to expand its sales presence around the world and invest in the growth and professional development of its employees to ensure the company is well positioned to address the complex needs of its customers.
