Introducing startup patent intelligence

This week we’ve made a major addition to the platform in the form of patent data and patent heatmap visualizations.

Consistent with our mission to create a 360-degree understanding of every tech and innovation ecosystem, as well as provide a deeper portrait of startups themselves, this has long been on our (and users’) wishlist. We’re delighted that with the help of cipher.ai, we’ve been able to make it happen.

You can now use patent filings as criteria in your startup searches and funding round filtering. You can also dive into a company’s patent history with the heatmap tool, which gives an instant overview of the total number of patents held by year, by patent category, and more, to gain insights into a company’s innovation strategy and timelines.

Discover promising companies by filtering for patents

One way you can use patent data in your startup sourcing process is by including specific categories as an Advanced Filter in your search.

For example, in this query I’ve used the following filters to discover promising early-stage European startups with patents in the semiconductor industry:

• Founded after 2018
• Include semiconductor patent categories
• HQ region in Europe
• Maximum of $15M in funding

Patent heatmaps on company profiles

If you navigate to a company profile, for example, the deeptech company Oxford Nanopore Technologies, we can see the total number of patents held by the company on the right side of the profile:

From the Patents tab, you’ll see the heatmap below, which provides the total number of patents by publication year. Patents are also divided into main categories and can be expanded into subcategories:

In the top right of the heatmap, you can add or remove years to explore the company’s patent history. You can explore patent heatmaps with our product tour here.

Unlock the value of patent intelligence

Patent intelligence is designed to help you make better strategic decisions by making it easy to track and analyze innovation. More specifically, patent intelligence can be used by VCs, corporates, and government enablers in the following ways:

• Optimise & benchmark your portfolio: Evaluate your portfolio to ensure you have the right companies to meet your strategic innovation initiatives. Benchmark and compare your portfolio through a technological lens.
• Competitive Intelligence: Keep tabs on the competition and gain valuable insights into their patenting strategies through automated patent mapping.
• Conduct due diligence: Streamline your due diligence process by automating patent tracking and innovation analysis with machine learning-based classification and industry-leading patent taxonomy.
• Communicate the value of innovation: Use a combination of patents and revenue data to make informed decisions on licensing and patent budget allocation. Communicate the value of your investments to stakeholders by tracking new technologies and identifying the most innovative companies.

In summary, patent heatmaps can be used to discover promising companies, optimize your portfolio, and stay ahead of the competition by automating innovation analysis.

If you have any questions about patent data, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at [email protected] or via chat.