Internet giant Tencent has just co-led a fresh founding round for London-headquartered artificial intelligence (AI) company PatSnap (智慧芽).
The series E funding round led by Tencent Investment and SoftBank Vision Fund 2 raised USD$300 million for PatSnap, which bills itself as a “global leader in innovation intelligence.”
Other investors participating in the fund-raising included CPE Industrial Fund, as well as existing investors Sequoia China, Shun Wei Capital and Vertex Ventures.
PatSnap said that it would 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 R&D Intelligence and IP Intelligence platforms use AI technologies including machine learning, computer vision and natural language processing to provide intelligence on markets and technology to corporate and university research teams, with clients including Dyson, Spotify, Oxford University Innovation and The Dow Chemical Company.
