Patlytics, an AI-powered patent analytics platform, wants to help companies, IP professionals, and law firms speed up patent workflows from discovery, analysis, comparison, and prosecution to litigation.
The fledgling startup secured $4.5 million in seed funding led by Gradient Ventures, Google's AI-focused VC arm, but was oversubscribed within days.
Patlytics was co-founded by CEO Paul Lee, a former venture capitalist at Tribe, and CTO Arthur Jen, a serial entrepreneur who co-founded and served as CTO of Web3 wallet platform Magic. Their shared vision and complementary skills laid the foundation for Patlytics, based on their first-hand experience and deep understanding of industry issues.
The co-founders told TechCrunch that they see a lot of opportunity in the IP space. Lee has spent most of his career investing in verticals SaaS and his AI, as well as some legal and tech startups, which he believes should be digitized. ) We encountered many IP companies using outdated technology in their workflows. While working at Magic, Jen focused on filing and defending patents to protect the company's technology.
“The AI revolution in patent intelligence is more than just a matter of efficiency. It’s about changing the way patent professionals strategize and engage across the patent lifecycle,” Lee said in an exclusive interview with TechCrunch. Told. “Recognizing the complex blend of technical and legal expertise required for patent work, we have developed a platform that will be an indispensable ally for patent professionals.”
Traditional patent filing and litigation workflows rely heavily on manual input, which is complex and time-consuming, Lee continued. The search and discovery phase, which involves searching and analyzing large amounts of patent data, requires a significant amount of effort, including Internet searches, piecemeal manual research, and inherently inefficient procedures. ”
What sets the startup apart from peers such as Anaqua, Clarivate and Patsnap is that Patlytics is “the only provider of final draft and extensive charting solutions” in today's AI-first approach from an insights and analytics perspective. Lee explained.
Another difference is that the platform is not completely dependent on a software solution and leaves room for human participation in the process.
Image credit: Patlytics Co-founders: Arthur Jen (CTO) and Paul Lee (CEO) / Patlytics
The organization recently launched a SOC-2 certified product and already serves several top law firms and several corporate in-house attorneys as clients. The company does not disclose the number of customers due to confidentiality agreements. Target users include IP law firms and companies with multiple patents.
“Protection of intellectual property remains a key priority and business requirement for information technology, physical products, and biotech companies. From the automotive industry to the pharmaceutical industry, as companies incorporate AI into their new products, , companies are becoming more eager to protect new inventions and monitor infringement from competitors,” said Darian Shirazi, general partner at Gradient. “We are excited to partner with his team at Patlytics as they leverage recent breakthrough innovations in AI to reinvent the intellectual property protection industry.”
The organization aims to use its proceeds to invest in product and AI development, go-to-market capabilities, and cover all workflows related to patent filing and litigation. Additionally, the company plans to strengthen its engineering team. The company has 11 employees.
“We know that navigating the complex landscape of intellectual property can be a daunting task, and our AI-integrated patent workflow increases efficiency and provides insights to future-proof intellectual property protection. We aim to transform it into a dynamic force shaping the technological landscape of the world,” said Jen. “We build our technology with data security and privacy in mind, protecting sensitive information throughout the patent lifecycle.”
Other participants in the round included 8VC, Alumni Ventures, Gaingels, Joe Montana's Liquid 2 Ventures, Position Ventures, Tribe Capital, and Vermilion Ventures. Notably, this round also included a number of angel backers, including partners at top law firms, Amit Agarwal, president of Datadog, Tim Hwang, founder of Fiscal Note, and Chang Kim, founder of Tapas Media. We gathered.