From checkbox to crown jewels: The year invisible assets became more valuable

For years, intangible assets like IP, data, code and brand sat in the 'legal will handle it' box. Trade secrets were vaguely acknowledged but rarely documented. Data was 'valuable' in presentations but unmeasured in practice. This year, that started to change. At Intanify, we've had a front-row seat.

The year in brief

• Companies unlocked non-dilutive financing using assets they didn't know they had

• Trade secret wars escalated - from Palantir to Rippling to Scale AI

• The 72% problem became impossible to ignore: most employees take material when they leave

• Know-how is often more liability than asset

• Data valuation moved from curiosity to boardroom priority

• 'Credibly articulate' became the new bar for investor conversations 

How Intanify users solved their problems

1. Audiebant - the funding round that shrank (in a good way)

Audiebant was planning a straightforward equity raise. Then Intanify revealed IP assets worth significantly more than expected - assets that could support bank financing through HSBC and others. The result? A smaller equity raise, less dilution, higher valuation, and more capital for growth. As Chairman Ian Rose put it: 'We didn't think we had the asset base for non-equity financing.' Watch the interview.

2. Orderly - from blind spots to Series-A ready

Orderly identified 73 key assets underpinning their revenue, growth and moat. They uncovered patentable innovations and implemented trade secret policies to close protection gaps. Deeper moats, mitigated issues, materially higher valuation. Read the case study.

3. Akrivia Health - putting a number on a unique data advantage

Akrivia Health has one of the truest moats you'll find: a unique dataset built over two decades. Intanify mapped the combination of proprietary AI, deep relationships and trade secrets that make it almost irreplicable. Read the case study.

4. The listed company that found treasure in the attic

A listed company acquired a business but subsequently the original deal sponsor left. When reviewing whether to sell, they discovered incredible IP using Intanify - and decided to upgrade other parts of the business instead.

5. The know-how time bomb

Know-how underpinning three critical products was completely unprotected - a liability, not an asset. Intanify identified the assets and their relationships to products, then connected excellent lawyers to fix the issue before it became a crisis.

6. The founder who nearly gave away the crown jewels

An enterprise client contract contained broad IP assignment clauses buried in 'standard terms'. Intanify helped identify background IP before signing, protecting years of R&D from walking out the door.

7. The exit that nearly fell through

A due diligence readiness Intanify run revealed trade secrets weren't properly documented or protected. Rapid remediation with Intanify saved the deal - but a year earlier would have been far less stressful.

9. Closing the gap between what earns and what's protected

A scale-up highlighted critical gaps between what drives revenue and what's actually protected. They prioritised limited legal budget on the most valuable exposures - focusing protection where it matters most.

Risks and opportunities we've seen

Secret sauce getting spilt

2025 was the year trade secret disputes went mainstream. The year's sagas have driven home a crucial lesson: identification is step one, but protection and response require ongoing discipline.

• Palantir v Guardian AI (YC) - the 72% problem (employees take material when they leave, 59% believe it's theirs). Read the piece.

• Rippling v Deel - spies, honeypots and competitor espionage

• Toku v Liquifi - alleged schemes to place spies and exploit private information

• Middesk v Baselayer - confidential documents walking out the door

• Scale AI v Mercor - 100+ confidential files allegedly downloaded for a rival

• UK VC trade secret theft - a venture capital firm found guilty of stealing from a startup that pitched them (GBP 66bn lost annually in the UK)

 Key insight: Most companies lose their secrets not to hackers but to good employees walking out the door, confused about what's theirs. 72% take material; 59% believe it belongs to them. Read our thought piece, Every company has trade secrets—and they’re being stolen.

Death by contract - value leakage you didn't see coming

Companies leak value through partnerships and client assignments without clear IP terms. Without an IP register, they cannot demonstrate what they owned before a collaboration began. Enterprise clients' procurement templates are designed to protect them, not you. The war for competitive advantage is fought in contract terms as much as technology.

The data gold rush (and those still digging with spoons)

Companies are sitting on data worth 5-25x their invested capital. Carl Weir of Data Valuation Partners shared a case where one company's valuation jumped from GBP 15m to GBP 852m through data recognition alone. Most companies see only 5% of their data value; the other 95% sits invisible. In five years, companies won't ask whether to value data - they'll ask why they didn't do it sooner. Watch the interview.

Non-dilutive capital becomes an option

Banks like HSBC, NatWest and specialist lenders are increasingly lending against IP, R&D tax credits and data. Reality check: banks don't want to run your algorithms - they want their money back. Companies are accessing non-dilutive capital they didn't know was available to them. The hybrid approach - combining equity and IP-backed debt - is becoming the optimal capital structure for many.

What we've learned

'Credibly articulate' is the new bar. Investors have heard every variation of 'our AI/IP/Software/[insert buzzword] is unique.' What they want is the specific connection between what you own and your value drivers or moat. Generic claims don't work with sophisticated audiences.

Differentiation isn't defensibility. Revenue multiples reward differentiation. But investors beyond early stage are paying for defensibility - confidence that competitive advantage can protect revenue over time. Else you get copied rather than acquired. Moats need to be mapped to real assets you control.

Scarcity drives exit value. In M&A, buyers typically capture most synergy value. But when your assets are genuinely scarce and multiple buyers compete, the dynamic flips. How comprehensively you articulate assets determines how well buyers envision integrating them. Read our thought piece, The hidden multiplier: How invisible assets drive valuation at every stage.

Know what you own before someone tells you that you don't. Ownership assumptions collapse under scrutiny (contractor agreements, joint ventures, open-source dependencies). Exits fall through when acquirers discover the tech they covet can't be clearly shown to be owned. The stuff you assume is yours often isn't.

Your moat is only as strong as your ability to explain it. Too much moat talk is hand-wavey - if you can't link it to assets you control, you haven't got one. Investors don't pay premiums for 'secret sauce' - they pay for defensibility they can see. Read our thought piece, Moats: articulating beyond the buzzword.

What we expect in 2026

• Trade secret disputes will accelerate, especially in services-heavy and talent-portable ecosystems

• IP and intangible insurance will become mainstream as boards face greater scrutiny

• Data valuation will shift from 'nice to have' to table stakes for serious funding conversations

• The companies achieving premium valuations will be those that can clearly map invisible assets to business performance 

To our users and community: thank you for a remarkable year. While you're planning for 2026, here's a question worth asking: do you actually know what your most valuable assets are? Most companies don't. We'll tell you – free, as an early holiday gift.

https://www.intanify.com/predict-my-top-assets