Monster Energy’s opposition to Tencent’s TM fails in Singapore
18-06-2018
Google signs patent licensing deal with Tencent in China
19-01-2018
IP analytics company PatSnap has secured $300 million in new funding led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Tencent Investments.
New investor CPE Industrial Fund and existing backers Sequoia China, Shun Wei Capital and Vertex Ventures contributed to the Series E funding round announced on March 16.
PatSnap describes itself as an AI-driven R&D and IP analytics company and has grown substantially over the past few years to serve more than 10,000 customers, including Tesla, Spotify and PayPal.
Jeffrey Tiong, the company’s founder and CEO, said: “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.”
This is the sixth funding round PatSnap has raised since August 2014, bringing its total amount of cash raised to $351.6 million, according to Crunchbase figures.
IP and AI
PatSnap was founded by Tiong in 2007, with the goal of building a global IP and R&D analytics platform powered by AI.
The company, which has offices in Singapore, China, the UK, US, and Canada, offers two main services: IP Intelligence, a patent search and analysis platform that allows customers to search more than 140 million patents; and IP data-as-a-service, which uses AI and machine learning to analyse data collected from company patents, licensing, and litigation.
Eric Chen, managing partner, SoftBank Investment Advisers said: “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.
“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.”
Did you enjoy reading this story? Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories sent like this straight to your inbox
Today’s top stories
SK hynix convinces PTAB to bypass NHK-Fintiv rule in patent review
PatSnap, SoftBank, Tencent, Sequoia China, Shun Wei Capital, Vertex Ventures, CPE Industrial Fund
