(Yicai Global) March 18 -- Singapore-based intellectual property information platform PatSnap has completed its USD300 million Series E round of financing, participated by big names such as Tencent Holdings and SoftBank Group, to raise its valuation to over USD1 billion.

A firm under the Shenzhen-based gaming giant and a fund of the Japanese conglomerate led this round, PatSnap said in a statement yesterday. ITIC Private Equity, as well as the existing shareholders of Sequoia Capital, Shunwei Capital, and Vertex Ventures also took part in this round.

Founded in 2007, PatSnap uses machine learning, computer vision, and natural language processing to offer its IP insights to companies and research institutions.

Software-as-a-service products make up 90 percent of PatSnap's revenue and its improving services are likely to serve more clients such as government agencies, hi-tech industrial parks, and financial institutions, the statement added.

China is an important market. "Chinese firms have paid higher attention to technology innovation and IP in recent years and become more aware of paying for and protecting IP,” founder and Chief Executive Zhang Jihui told Yicai Global.

Since 2018, PatSnap has been adding new databases regarding financial information and journals while trying to build connections between these databases, co-founder Guan Dian told Yicai Global.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi