Our investment in Ankar: building the operating system for innovation
Ankar: building the AI operating system for enterprise innovation
Invention is how we solve humanity’s biggest challenges. New medicines and materials, cleaner transport, more efficient energy systems all start as fragile ideas inside R&D teams. While those teams have sprinted into an AI-native future, the workflows that turn ideas into intellectual property are still stuck in the past: manual forms, scattered tools, and legal processes that move at a different speed to the people actually inventing.
This is exactly the problem Ankar is solving. Ankar is building the AI operating system for innovation, transforming how enterprises generate and protect their inventions and turning breakthrough ideas into defensible patents at scale.
Today, we are excited to announce that Atomico is leading Ankar’s $20m Series A round, with Index Ventures doubling down and Norrsken VC and Daphni also participating.
From ideas to technological breakthroughs
Patents remain one of the most powerful tools companies have to protect the ideas that drive their future revenue. Yet the system that supports them is painfully slow and fragmented.
Patents can take up to 24 months to secure. Along the way, teams still rely on manual data entry, unstructured email threads and outdated IP tools. This inefficiency slows down innovation and, in many cases, discourages inventors from filing at all.
As the disconnect between the importance of intangible assets and the administrative reality of patent filing widens, the pain point Ankar is solving has become more acute. Intangible assets now account for up to ~90% of the value of S&P 500 companies, yet patent professionals still spend around half their time on manual, administrative work. Generative AI is also making it easier for competitors to replicate designs, architectures and experimental approaches. Subsequently, deeper, more defensible portfolios are a key strategic priority for many companies, especially in sectors like automotive and electronics.
IP software is moving from the back office to the front line. The winners in this category will be AI-native platforms that sit where innovation actually happens, next to the inventor, and turn IP from a cost center into a growth driver and strategic necessity.
Upending the category and reimaging the innovation stack
When we spoke with IP leaders, R&D heads, and General Counsels, three shifts stood out:
1. From systems of record to systems of action
The first step is building software purpose-built for inventors. This means intuitive workflows and deep integrations into where work already lives, from engineering tools to internal knowledge bases. It also means treating IP as a strategic process rather than a compliance box to tick.
2. Automation with measurable ROI
Modern AI models can now understand both the technical content and the legal structure of patents. This unlocks meaningful automation, not just nicer autocomplete.
With the right product, teams can:
Analyse novelty and prior art at a scale that was previously impossible
Turn invention disclosures into high quality draft applications with guidance on claim strength and scope
Respond to examiners faster, with all relevant context pulled into one place
The impact is clear. Ankar’s customers see an average 40% boost in productivity and hundreds of hours shifted from repetitive tasks to high value strategic work.
3. A collaborative operating system for innovation
We believe the winning platform will become the daily workspace where inventors, R&D teams, product managers and IP professionals sit together, driving organisational change that extends far deeper than drafting copilots and legal applications. Ideas are captured, pressure tested, drafted and monitored in a single shared loop, rather than disappearing into email threads and departmental silos.
Done right, this becomes a living map of how ideas emerge, evolve, get protected and compete in the market. At that point, the IP stack is no longer reactive. It actively shapes a company’s roadmap. Ankar is focused on serving inventors, counsel, and business stakeholders. This combination of breadth, trust, and traction is what gives us conviction that Ankar will define the category, not just participate in it.
The arc we are excited about starts with today’s patent workflows, proves real ROI through automation, and then grows into the operating system that orchestrates how ideas turn into defensible patents globally - Ankar is pioneering this path.
Inside Ankar’s operating system for innovation
Meet Ankar - the AI platform that unifies the entire patent lifecycle into one secure workflow. It acts as an assistant, rather than an autopilot, helping patent teams and inventors go from idea to granted patent in a fraction of the time.
On a single, easy-to-use platform, customers can:
Perform instant novelty and prior art analysis across more than 150 million patent applications and 250 million scientific publications
Turn invention disclosures into high quality draft applications with strategic guidance on claim strength and scope
Consolidate all history and analysis into a single view when examiners respond, so teams can react quickly with stronger, more defensible framing
Ankar is already trusted by leading enterprises and law firms, including Fortune 500 companies such as L’Oreal and global law firm Vorys. The platform is showing meaningful adoption in production, with 96% of users saying they would recommend it to colleagues.
The team placing power in the hands of inventors
Ankar was founded by Tamar Gomez and Wiem Gharbi, who previously built mission-critical software at Palantir in Europe and the US. Their experience working on high stakes deployments, where failure was not an option, is visible in every part of Ankar’s product and culture.
Tamar combines a PhD in Economics and Game Theory with hands-on experience deploying advanced data systems into highly sensitive environments. She understands both the technical possibilities of AI and the governance and security requirements of global enterprises.
Wiem spent more than six years at Palantir, including in the CEO’s office, driving cross-company strategic initiatives and helping launch new products into the market. She knows how to turn complex customer needs into shippable software and how to build the commercial engine around it.
Around them, they have assembled a world-class team of ~20 people across engineering, product, design, and GTM, bringing together experience from Palantir, Helsing, Amazon, and leading IP software providers.
Building the infrastructure for the next decade of innovation
This Series A round brings Ankar’s total funding to $24m. The company will use the capital to double its team, expand engineering, product, and design, and grow its GTM organisation to support rising demand across Europe and the US.
The long-term ambition is clear. Ankar wants to become the software layer that orchestrates how ideas turn into defensible, strategic patents globally. In a world where AI is reshaping both how we innovate and how we compete, that layer will become core infrastructure.
At Atomico, we are proud to partner with Tamar, Wiem, and the entire Ankar team on this journey. We believe the next generation of category defining companies will not just build tools around innovation, they will become the infrastructure that innovation runs on.
