PatSnap, a pan European-Asian global leader in Innovation Intelligence, announced it had secured $300 million in Series E funding this week. The investment round was 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.
PatSnap’s flagship R&D Intelligence and IP Intelligence platforms provide machine learning (ML), computer vision, natural language processing (NLP), and other artificial intelligence (AI) technology to innovation teams at many of the world’s largest institutes as they take their products from ideation to commercialization.
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 research and development (R&D) and intellectual property (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.
“PatSnap’s mission is to empower innovators to make the world a better place”, said Jeffrey Tiong, founder and CEO of PatSnap. “Our global footprint, leadership, and strategic position in the innovation economy have enabled us to attract top investors, customers, and talent. Adding Softbank Vision Fund 2 and Tencent to our notable roster of investors will help solidify PatSnap as the industry standard for innovation intelligence. Both have deep investment expertise with AI-led companies and proven track records supporting sustainable company growth”.
PatSnap says companies around the world are under pressure to increase the pace of innovation. Whilst more money is spent on R&D every year – $2.4 trillion in 2021 according to R&D World – the returns are dwindling. An article published in HBR also noted a 65% drop in R&D productivity. PatSnap offers a remedy to this issue via AI-powered technology that analyzes and connects the key relationships between millions of unstructured data points across disparate data sources to deliver insights that guide R&D decisions and help accelerate the time it takes to bring new innovations to market.
“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, Managing Partner, SoftBank Investment Advisers. “We are pleased to partner with Jeffrey and the PatSnap team to support their mission of helping innovators make faster, more informed decisions through connected innovation intelligence”.
PatSnap has more than 10,000 customers around the world with headquarters in Singapore, London and Toronto.
For further information on PatSnap, you can visit their website.
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