For any company developing intellectual property (IP) — whether that’s data, code or manufacturing processes — it’s often the defining element that sets the business apart from competitors. Tangibly aims to help companies across several industries maintain their competitive edge by protecting these intangible assets. Now that it’s backed by a fresh round of capital, the Seattle-based company is better equipped to get the job done.
Tangibly operates a trade secret management platform used by general councils and heads of IP across sectors like food and beverage, manufacturing, technology and finance.
Separate from patents, trademarks and copyrights, trade secrets comprise most of a business’ IP and competitive advantage, according to Tangibly. Because these assets are so crucial, the U.S. government passed the Defend Trade Secrets Act in 2016 to help protect them. However, to enforce that protection, there are several best practices companies must follow. These tasks include cataloging assets, tracking required legal agreements and managing acknowledgment workflow as well as access management. Tangibly’s platform works to streamline legal requirements so companies can implement these best practices to establish their assets as legally protectable trade secrets.
The company’s management solution allows companies to label assets as trade secrets, limit access to those assets and inform employees and third-party partners that they have access to those trade secrets. Tangibly recently released Tangibly Share, a solution that helps businesses of any size with the creation, execution, tracking and auditing of non-disclosure agreements.
Now that it’s backed by $1.3 million in pre-seed funding, Tangibly is expanding its platform even further. The company is fueling product development with AI and machine learning initiatives in the works. It’s also building out its team across sales and marketing.
Investors including WS Investment Company and Madrona Venture Group participated in the round.
“Recent geo-political and legal challenges have dramatically raised corporate awareness of the need to actively manage trade secrets, but it is a complex process that most companies have not fully addressed,” Tim Londergan, Tangibly’s founder and CEO, said in a statement. “The response from our early customers combined with the backing from these two firms steeped in new category creation signals a big opportunity ahead of us.”
