Softbank and Tencent are taking a $300 million (R4.5 billion) bet on PatSnap, an Innovation Intelligence (IP) analytics platform. 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 said in a statement it 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.
Companies around the world are under pressure to increase the pace of innovation. And while more money is spent on R&D every year – $2.4 trillion in 2021 according to R&D World – the returns are dwindling.
PatSnap’s AI-powered technology addresses this issue by analyzing and connecting 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.
“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 has more than 10,000 customers around the world, 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.
“We believe in a connected world and are impressed with PatSnap’s AI-centric platform that helps organizations and researchers to connect the dots,” said Levin Yao, Managing Partner of Tencent Investment.
“PatSnap is the clear leader in the connected innovation intelligence category. Its impressive portfolio of customer use cases reinforces its role in enabling companies to significantly improve their ability to identify business opportunities and threats across multiple domains and industries.”
