Tradespace Raises $15M Series A to Fix the Economics of IP Law

Led by AVP, the round empowers enterprises to shift IP development and management in-house, cutting legal spend by 50% and filing patents in under 24 hours

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 26, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The company announced a $15 million Series A funding round led by AVP to scale its AI-native IP platform - the first solution that allows enterprises to take control of their full IP lifecycle. Existing investors Eniac Ventures, Amplo VC, and Scrum Ventures also participated in the round.

"The traditional IP law firm model is broken. In house IP teams are being asked to support faster innovation cycles without increasing costs, despite law firm fees for drafting and prosecution reaching record levels," explained Alec Sorensen, CEO and Co-Founder of Tradespace. "Today, Tradespace is dismantling that model and will continue to innovate in the IP Law sector thanks to the support and confidence of the financial partners behind this Series A funding round."

For decades, in-house IP leaders have been forced to make a difficult economic trade-off: file fewer patents to save money, or exhaust budgets on routine filings. Tradespace eliminates this compromise. By integrating AI directly into the R&D workflow, Tradespace streamlines patent development - from invention harvesting to application drafting - allowing in-house IP teams to operate with the speed of a tech company while maintaining legal rigor.

"The billable hour acts as a tax on innovation, forcing companies to decide which ideas to protect based on budget rather than merit," said Sorensen. "Even when law firms have moved to fixed fees, companies have had to pay in other ways, whether in increased costs on the backend for prosecution or lower speed and quality. Our platform allows IP teams to recapture their budget and operate with the speed of a software company, not a law firm."

While "copilot" tools exist to simply draft text faster, Tradespace operates as an end-to-end IP Management Platform. Its embedded AI workflows empower IP teams to harvest new innovations, search for prior art, draft patents, respond to office actions, and even run licensing campaigns, while keeping attorneys in the loop to produce work that rivals senior partners.

The results are immediate. Tradespace clients report:

• 50% reduction in outside counsel spend
• 40% increase in invention disclosures from R&D teams
• Time-to-file compressed from weeks to days

"In-house teams are tired of the administrative trap. They want to be strategic architects, not invoice approvers," said Manish Agarwal, General Partner at AVP. "Tradespace is the first company to successfully close the gap between software and legal services, giving corporations ownership of the entire process. We believe this platform will become the standard operating system for the Global 2000."

The platform currently manages over 440K patents for over 80 organizations, including Fortune 500 tech giants and 75% of top US research universities. The Series A follows Tradespace's November 2025 acquisition of Paragon Patents, cementing Tradespace's technical lead in Agentic workflows and AI-driven patent drafting.

About Tradespace
Tradespace is the first end-to-end IP Management Platform designed to replace the billable hour with AI automation. By combining a secure system of record with proprietary, attorney-grade drafting technology, Tradespace empowers in-house teams to take control of the IP lifecycle - from invention disclosure to filing - without relying on inefficient outside counsel. Trusted by top universities and Fortune 500s, Tradespace is defining the future of intellectual property. For more information, visit tradespace.io.

About AVP 
AVP is an independent global investment platform focused on high-growth technology companies, ranging from deep tech to tech-enabled, across Europe and North America. The firm manages more than €2.5 billion in assets across four strategies: venture, early growth, growth, and fund of funds. Its multi-stage platform combines global research with local execution to drive investment. Since its establishment in 2016, AVP has invested in more than 60 technology companies. Through its dedicated expansion team, AVP works closely with founders, offering the expertise, connections and resources needed to unlock growth opportunities, and create lasting value through meaningful collaborations.

Contact:
Andrea Christman
Poston Communications
202.302.1511
[email protected]

SOURCE Tradespace