AI-Driven Patent Filing News: Ankar Secures $20 Million Series A
Tech startup Ankar has announced a $20 million Series A round to scale its AI-powered patent filing platform. The investment signals growing investor confidence in AI-driven legal and intellectual property tools that aim to reduce the overhead of protecting technology innovations. The round was led by a consortium of venture firms focused on early-stage AI and enterprise software, with participation from strategic investors in technology and IP spaces.
Founders with a Palantir Backbone bring AI to IP
Ankar was founded in 2024 by Tamar Gomez and Wiem Gharbi, two former Palantir contributors who observed firsthand how patent protection can bottleneck technological progress. Their backgrounds in data-driven operations and software analytics informed a bold thesis: AI can streamline the legal complexity of patent filing, allowing researchers and engineers to focus on invention rather than paperwork.
Gomez, drawing on a business background, and Gharbi, with deep technical and product experience, built a platform designed to translate complex invention descriptions into robust, patent-ready filings. The team argues that traditional patent processes often slow down the commercialization cycle, especially for startups and enterprises introducing rapid iterations of new technologies.
How Ankar’s AI Streamlines Patent Filings
The core proposition is simple but powerful: automate the repetitive, error-prone parts of patent drafting and filing, while maintaining high standards of legal compliance. Ankar’s platform uses natural language processing to interpret invention disclosures, map them to patent claims, and generate structured documentation suitable for submission in multiple jurisdictions. It also automates prior art searches and patent landscape analysis, helping inventors understand where their ideas stand in relation to the market and existing protection.
By integrating with patent office workflows and international filing systems, Ankar aims to reduce the time from concept to provisional or non-provisional patent filing. Early users report faster drafting cycles, reduced administrative overhead, and clearer guidance on potential claim strategies. The platform is designed to adapt to evolving patent rules, which vary widely by country and technology sector.
Why Investors Bet on AI for Intellectual Property
Intellectual property is a high-stakes asset class for tech companies, startups, and research institutions. The traditional patent process is notorious for being expensive, opaque, and time-consuming. AI-based tools promise to cut costs, improve consistency, and shorten time-to-protection—a combination investors find compelling for a market ripe for disruption.
Analysts note that AI-assisted IP workflows could unlock broader access to patent protection, enabling more small and mid-sized innovators to compete effectively. For Ankar, the Series A funding is not just capital; it’s a signal that the market is ready for scalable AI-assisted IP solutions that blend legal rigor with modern software engineering.
What’s Next for Ankar
With fresh funding, Ankar plans to accelerate product development, expand its jurisdiction coverage, and onboard a broader user base across tech sectors such as software, biotechnology, and hardware. The team is also prioritizing compliance, data privacy, and security to reassure enterprise clients that sensitive invention data is protected throughout the filing workflow.
As Ankar scales, its leadership emphasizes a user-first approach: the platform aims to support legal teams and engineers alike, offering intuitive dashboards, explainable AI outputs, and audit trails that align with patent office requirements and corporate governance standards.
Impact on the Patent Ecosystem
If Ankar achieves its objectives, the implications could extend beyond faster filings. A successful AI-driven approach could influence how law firms, in-house IP departments, and research labs manage invention pipelines, potentially normalizing more proactive and scalable protection strategies for technology innovations across industries.
