Imagine founding a startup in one of the world’s most competitive sectors, scaling revenues by tenfold within a single year, and securing a $40 million Series B funding round from some of the most prominent investors in tech. This is exactly what Solve Intelligence, a London and San Francisco-based startup, has achieved in just two years.
As someone who’s lived and breathed the intersection of technology, intellectual property, and entrepreneurship, I’m constantly evaluating which ventures are carving out sustainable niches in saturated markets. Solve Intelligence isn’t just surviving, it’s thriving by offering a very specific solution: simplifying the historically complex world of patents through AI.
Their journey from their inception in 2023 to ARR in the eight-figure range today represents a case study worth dissecting. Let’s explore their story and what entrepreneurs can learn.
Solve Intelligence: A Snapshot of Growth
Solve Intelligence has developed a platform that essentially acts as a co-pilot for intellectual property professionals. Their AI assists with everything from collecting ideas for inventions to drafting patent applications and coordinating responses to office actions. Clients include global IP teams such as law firms DLA Piper and Perkins Coie and in-house groups at Siemens and Avery Dennison.
The market seems to agree that Solve is onto something big, with over 400 client teams spanning six continents. What caught my eye is their value proposition, streamlining IP workflows while saving time and reducing error rates. Customers report time savings of over 60%, a significant number in a sector where every detail matters.
The Financial Highlights
The company has just closed a $40 million Series B funding round co-led by Visionaries and 20VC. They’ve also received backing from notable players Thomson Reuters and Y Combinator, among others. High-profile tech founders like those of Tinder, Canva, and Deel also contributed as angel investors.
Here’s what makes this funding milestone intriguing: Solve has managed exponential growth in a sector where competition is fierce. The legal tech segment saw €833 million in funding across 84 deals in 2025, nearly double the investment from the previous year. In such a volatile market, rapid expansion isn’t enough, sustainability matters.
Solve Intelligence stands apart because it’s already profitable, an outlier among tech startups at this stage. They’ve actually generated more cash than they’ve taken in funding. This is proof of the strength of their financial model and the problem they’re solving.
Five Lessons from Solve Intelligence’s Journey
1. Narrow Your Target Market Early
Solve built its platform specifically for patents, rather than dabbling in broader legal tech solutions. This narrow focus has allowed the team to deliver highly specialized tools that meet niche requirements, like handling biological sequences or complex chemical formulas.
What you can apply: As a startup founder, resist the temptation to solve every problem. Customers appreciate expertise far more than generalists, especially in industries where being wrong has high consequences.
2. Recruit Unmatched Talent
Their team includes AI experts from Cambridge, Oxford, UCL, and Imperial College London, paired with experienced patent attorneys. This multidisciplinary approach ensures both technological robustness and domain authenticity.
How to replicate: Surround yourself with professionals who bring both depth and diversity. Combining tech know-how with deep industry experience is a formula for credibility.
3. Leverage Big Wins Early
Joining Y Combinator during its launch year gave Solve immediate validation. They used this momentum to quickly secure further funding, scale operations, and lock in major early clients.
Takeaway: Every entrepreneur should double down on early wins. Whether it’s a large client or an influential investor, these victories not only fuel growth but also signal reliability to the market.
4. Focus on Efficiency to Create Value
Reports suggest that Solve’s clients are loving their results, time reductions of up to 80%. On a broader scale, they're addressing inefficiencies in a traditionally manual and error-prone system.
How to implement: If your focus is on creating tools, ensure they fundamentally improve a process rather than just digitize or replicate it. This differentiation can lead to results clients rave about.
5. Understand Your Competition, but Stay Focused
The legal tech market is full of players like Robin AI, which recently faced significant layoffs despite being a darling of the space just last year. Solve’s strategy wasn’t just about innovating; it was about staying attentive to fundamentals.
Entrepreneur insight: Markets will always have their ups and downs. Stay focused on profitability and building a product customers can’t live without.
How to Approach Market Expansion
For companies looking to mimic Solve Intelligence’s growth trajectory, the roadmap is straightforward yet challenging.
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Start with Deep Industry Insight
Understand the intricacies of your target market before building a product. Solve’s ability to address the unique pain points of patent law resulted from years of deep research and collaboration with IP attorneys. -
Build Early and Iteratively
Solve didn’t aim for perfection in the early stages, they built a core solution and scaled carefully. A strong MVP, often overlooked today, is still a critical step. -
Scale Beyond Local Borders Quickly
By year two, they were already processing workflows across six continents. Think global from day one through local partnerships, but tread cautiously to avoid spreading yourself thin.
Common Start-Up Missteps to Avoid
- Over-engineering without validating demand: Solve grew because they built iteratively. Avoid wasting resources perfecting features nobody uses.
- Ignoring customer feedback: Their co-pilot feels intuitive because they closely involved clients in its development. If you lose touch with your base, growth becomes harder.
- Underestimating operational efficiencies: Time savings became a major selling point for Solve. If your product isn’t directly improving efficiency, customers might look elsewhere.
My Perspective on Solve
Solve Intelligence’s success isn’t just luck or timing, it’s the outcome of sharp business acumen, a clear understanding of their audience, and a product that meets a critical need. As a founder, you’ll often hear about companies building to "disrupt an industry," but lasting success doesn’t come from disruption alone. It comes from systematically solving problems better than anyone else.
Will Solve remain the dominant player in the patent AI space? Time will tell. For now, their ability to attract top-tier funding, grow exponentially, and maintain profitability offers a masterclass for every entrepreneur navigating highly technical fields.
The takeaway here is simple: Focus. Become irreplaceable by solving meaningful, tangible problems. After that, scale is just a series of deliberate steps.
Want to see if Solve can help streamline your IP needs? Learn more about Solve Intelligence. For entrepreneurs looking for inspiration, this is one to bookmark and revisit. You’ll find strategies that resonate regardless of your industry.
FAQ
1. What is Solve Intelligence, and what does it offer?
Solve Intelligence is a legal tech startup founded in 2023, providing an AI-powered platform designed as a "co-pilot for IP law." The platform supports tasks like collecting inventors' ideas, drafting patent applications, and handling correspondence with patent offices. Learn more about Solve Intelligence
2. Who are the clients of Solve Intelligence?
Solve Intelligence works with over 400 IP teams, including major clients such as legal firms DLA Piper and Perkins Coie, as well as in-house teams from corporations like Siemens and Avery Dennison. See the client list
3. How has Solve Intelligence performed financially since its launch?
Solve Intelligence has achieved a remarkable 10x increase in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) in a single year, reaching an eight-figure revenue mark. The company has also sustained profitability since its inception. Read about their financial growth
4. What sets Solve Intelligence apart from competitors in legal tech?
Solve Intelligence specializes in patents, providing efficiency improvements such as up to 80% time savings on drafting and managing IP processes. Their focus on performance, intuitive design, and security also distinguishes them in a competitive market. Discover their unique approach
5. Who led the $40 million Series B funding round for Solve Intelligence?
The funding round was co-led by Visionaries and 20VC, with additional backing from prominent investors including Thomson Reuters, Y Combinator, and tech founders from companies like Tinder, Deel, and Canva. Meet their investors
6. What type of talent has Solve Intelligence attracted to its team?
The team is composed of AI researchers from leading institutions like Cambridge, Oxford, UCL, and Imperial College London, along with experienced patent attorneys. Learn more about their team
7. How is Solve Intelligence shaping the legal tech industry?
Solve Intelligence is a key disruptor in the legal tech space, leveraging AI to streamline patent workflows. With a growing customer base and a sustainable financial model, it serves as a case study for successful startups in competitive markets. Read more about their impact
8. What challenges does Solve Intelligence face in the legal tech industry?
The legal tech sector is highly competitive and volatile. Some competitors have faced setbacks, such as Robin AI, which recently announced significant layoffs. Solve Intelligence’s focus on niche, sustainable solutions has helped it stand out. Learn more about the market landscape
9. What does the future hold for Solve Intelligence?
With plans for global expansion and an evolving product line, including a new Charts feature for high-volume IP analysis, Solve Intelligence is poised to become an AI-native platform for the intellectual property domain. Explore future goals
10. How has Solve Intelligence capitalized on emerging market trends?
By focusing on the rapidly growing legal tech market and building solutions tailored specifically for patent processes, the company has successfully captured significant market share while maintaining profitability. Understand the trends
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
Violetta Bonenkamp's expertise in CAD sector, IP protection and blockchain
Violetta Bonenkamp is recognized as a multidisciplinary expert with significant achievements in the CAD sector, intellectual property (IP) protection, and blockchain technology.
CAD Sector:
- Violetta is the CEO and co-founder of CADChain, a deep tech startup focused on developing IP management software specifically for CAD (Computer-Aided Design) data. CADChain addresses the lack of industry standards for CAD data protection and sharing, using innovative technology to secure and manage design data.
- She has led the company since its inception in 2018, overseeing R&D, PR, and business development, and driving the creation of products for platforms such as Autodesk Inventor, Blender, and SolidWorks.
- Her leadership has been instrumental in scaling CADChain from a small team to a significant player in the deeptech space, with a diverse, international team.
IP Protection:
- Violetta has built deep expertise in intellectual property, combining academic training with practical startup experience. She has taken specialized courses in IP from institutions like WIPO and the EU IPO.
- She is known for sharing actionable strategies for startup IP protection, leveraging both legal and technological approaches, and has published guides and content on this topic for the entrepreneurial community.
- Her work at CADChain directly addresses the need for robust IP protection in the engineering and design industries, integrating cybersecurity and compliance measures to safeguard digital assets.
Blockchain:
- Violetta’s entry into the blockchain sector began with the founding of CADChain, which uses blockchain as a core technology for securing and managing CAD data.
- She holds several certifications in blockchain and has participated in major hackathons and policy forums, such as the OECD Global Blockchain Policy Forum.
- Her expertise extends to applying blockchain for IP management, ensuring data integrity, traceability, and secure sharing in the CAD industry.
Violetta is a true multiple specialist who has built expertise in Linguistics, Education, Business Management, Blockchain, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Game Design, AI, SEO, Digital Marketing, cyber security and zero code automations. Her extensive educational journey includes a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Education, an Advanced Master in Linguistics from Belgium (2006-2007), an MBA from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (2006-2008), and an Erasmus Mundus joint program European Master of Higher Education from universities in Norway, Finland, and Portugal (2009).
She is the founder of Fe/male Switch, a startup game that encourages women to enter STEM fields, and also leads CADChain, and multiple other projects like the Directory of 1,000 Startup Cities with a proprietary MeanCEO Index that ranks cities for female entrepreneurs. Violetta created the "gamepreneurship" methodology, which forms the scientific basis of her startup game. She also builds a lot of SEO tools for startups. Her achievements include being named one of the top 100 women in Europe by EU Startups in 2022 and being nominated for Impact Person of the year at the Dutch Blockchain Week. She is an author with Sifted and a speaker at different Universities. Recently she published a book on Startup Idea Validation the right way: from zero to first customers and beyond, launched a Directory of 1,500+ websites for startups to list themselves in order to gain traction and build backlinks and is building MELA AI to help local restaurants in Malta get more visibility online.
For the past several years Violetta has been living between the Netherlands and Malta, while also regularly traveling to different destinations around the globe, usually due to her entrepreneurial activities. This has led her to start writing about different locations and amenities from the POV of an entrepreneur. Here’s her recent article about the best hotels in Italy to work from.
About the Publication
Fe/male Switch is an innovative startup platform designed to empower women entrepreneurs through an immersive, game-like experience. Founded in 2020 during the pandemic "without any funding and without any code," this non-profit initiative has evolved into a comprehensive educational tool for aspiring female entrepreneurs.The platform was co-founded by Violetta Shishkina-Bonenkamp, who serves as CEO and one of the lead authors of the Startup News branch.
Mission and Purpose
Fe/male Switch Foundation was created to address the gender gap in the tech and entrepreneurship space. The platform aims to skill-up future female tech leaders and empower them to create resilient and innovative tech startups through what they call "gamepreneurship". By putting players in a virtual startup village where they must survive and thrive, the startup game allows women to test their entrepreneurial abilities without financial risk.
Key Features
The platform offers a unique blend of news, resources,learning, networking, and practical application within a supportive, female-focused environment:
- Skill Lab: Micro-modules covering essential startup skills
- Virtual Startup Building: Create or join startups and tackle real-world challenges
- AI Co-founder (PlayPal): Guides users through the startup process
- SANDBOX: A testing environment for idea validation before launch
- Wellness Integration: Virtual activities to balance work and self-care
- Marketplace: Buy or sell expert sessions and tutorials
Impact and Growth
Since its inception, Fe/male Switch has shown impressive growth:
- 5,000+ female entrepreneurs in the community
- 100+ startup tools built
- 5,000+ pieces of articles and news written
- 1,000 unique business ideas for women created
Partnerships
Fe/male Switch has formed strategic partnerships to enhance its offerings. In January 2022, it teamed up with global website builder Tilda to provide free access to website building tools and mentorship services for Fe/male Switch participants.
Recognition
Fe/male Switch has received media attention for its innovative approach to closing the gender gap in tech entrepreneurship. The platform has been featured in various publications highlighting its unique "play to learn and earn" model.