Ankar raises £15m to speed patent preparation and protect inventions with AI
This article covers Ankar, a legaltech startup, which has raised £15m in a Series A to rework how enterprises and law firms generate and protect patents. The development aims to consolidate novelty analysis, drafting and prosecution into a single workflow to speed patent preparation and strengthen claim defensibility for patent teams, law firms and R&D-heavy organisations.
Ankar, a legaltech startup, has raised £15 million in a Series A to rework how companies and law firms generate and protect patents. The funding backs a platform that combines novelty analysis, drafting and prosecution into a single workflow aimed at speeding patent preparation and strengthening claim defensibility — a timely shift as AI reshapes how organisations convert R&D into protected assets.
Why it matters
Generative AI is changing the dynamics of invention and competition. Organisations in automotive, electronics and other R&D-heavy industries increasingly view patent portfolios as strategic defences against faster replication and as potential revenue drivers. Yet many patent teams still rely on scattered documents and slow processes that can take years to resolve.
Ankar’s approach targets those bottlenecks by consolidating the patent lifecycle, addressing confidentiality and governance concerns that have held enterprises back from broader AI adoption. If the platform delivers on its productivity claims, it could change how legal and R&D teams prioritise filing and portfolio strategy.
Inside the product
Ankar’s platform offers novelty assessment, prior-art search, claim drafting and prosecution management from a single interface. The company says its databases cover more than 150 million patent applications and over 250 million scientific publications, and that the software provides claim-level reasoning and LLM governance within enterprise-controlled environments.
Key product claims from the announcement:
- Converts invention disclosures into draft patent applications with strategic guidance on claim strength and scope.
- Consolidates historical correspondence and analysis into a single view for examiner responses.
- Delivers an average 40% boost in productivity for patent teams and a 96% user recommendation rate.
- Targets typical patent timelines that can stretch to 24 months and replaces fragmented workflows based on Word files, spreadsheets and email.
Ankar also emphasises security and compliance features intended for enterprise usage. The co-founders cite prior experience building software for users in Europe and the US, which the company says informed its approach to secure retrieval, AI safety and governance.
Who are the investors?
Who are the investors?
Ankar’s £15 million Series A was led by Atomico, with participation from Index Ventures, Norrsken VC and Daphni. The round brings Ankar’s total funding to £18 million.
The company plans to use the capital to double its 20-person team, expand engineering, product and design functions, and grow its go-to-market organisation to meet demand across Europe and the US. Ankar’s stated ambition is to become the software layer that orchestrates how ideas are turned into defensible patents globally.
In the announcement, Andreas Helbig, Partner at Atomico, said:
Tamar and Wiem bring exceptional technical depth and first-hand experience of how broken the patent process is. Their momentum with Fortune 500 companies shows they’re building the right product at exactly the right moment. We’re proud to support their mission as they build the foundational infrastructure for how the world’s most important ideas are protected and commercialised.
If you're researching potential backers in this space:
- Explore our list of legaltech venture capital firms in the UK
- Browse our directory of legaltech angel investors in the UK
Founder perspective
The startup was founded by Tamar Gomez and Wiem Gharbi. They position Ankar as an assistant for patent professionals rather than an autopilot, aiming to shift teams from administrative tasks to higher-value strategy work.
In the announcement, Tamar Gomez, Co-founder, said:
Patents sit at the intersection of deep technical knowledge and precise legal reasoning, and AI can finally unlock real leverage in that process. Ankar gives professionals the analytical depth they’ve never had before, enabling stronger strategy and better protection. Atomico shares our ambition to build the infrastructure behind the next generation of global innovation.
In the announcement, Wiem Gharbi, Co-founder, said:
Patents sit at the intersection of deep technical knowledge and precise legal reasoning, and AI can finally unlock real leverage in that process. Ankar gives professionals the analytical depth they’ve never had before, enabling stronger strategy and better protection. Atomico shares our ambition to build the infrastructure behind the next generation of global innovation.
(Quotes as provided in the announcement.)
The bigger picture
Ankar’s raise sits at the intersection of two trends: rapid AI adoption in professional services and growing corporate focus on intellectual property as a strategic asset. Intangible assets now account for a large portion of public-company value, and faster, more defensible patenting could shift how R&D-heavy firms protect and monetise technology.
The deal is another signal that legaltech is attracting capital to solve entrenched inefficiencies with AI-enabled tooling. For the UK and Europe, where legal and industrial expertise are longstanding strengths, platforms that bridge legal reasoning and technical search could become important infrastructure for innovation and competitiveness.
They've invested in Ankar
Get to know these legaltech investors
Click here for a full list of 7,526+ startup investors in the UK