When we talk about company value today, most people think of offices, machinery, or cash in the bank. But what if we told you that 90% of many companies’ value is completely invisible to traditional financial systems? Dylan, co-founder of Intanify, experienced this disconnect firsthand during his career in investment banking and as a CFO. Frustrated by seeing innovative companies with tens of millions in value unrecognized under accounting standards, he decided to take action.

Together with Viet Lee, Dylan founded Intanify with a clear mission: to make companies’ intangible assets visible—from intellectual property to proprietary algorithms—unlocking financing opportunities that were previously impossible. Their platform automates expert IP knowledge through AI, enabling banks, law firms, and businesses to understand and value what was once invisible, with professional-grade accuracy at a fraction of traditional costs.

In this interview, Dylan shares how the idea came about, how Intanify is already transforming the way innovative businesses are financed, and his vision for the future of the intangible economy.

1. Tell us a bit about yourself, and how you got the idea for Intanify.

 

My background spans investment banking and being a CFO, which gave me a front-row seat to one of the most frustrating market failures in modern finance.

90% of modern company value sits in intangible assets –IP, data, your trade secrets, your proprietary algorithms – but traditional finance treats it like it doesn’t exist.

Companies which have raised and built $10s of million in value have no assets according to accounting. That is obviously to do with accounting standards not economic reality.

That disconnect between actual company value and what financial systems could recognise led me to co-found Intanify with CTO Viet Lee. Our mission is to create the missing balance sheet for the modern economy – making invisible intellectual property and intangible assets visible to unlock better financing for innovative businesses.

The war for capital shouldn’t be won by whoever owns the most PP&E.

2. What problem/opportunity do you address, and for which customers?

We’re solving a fundamental market failure where 90% of modern company value derives from intangible assets, yet financial and professional services systems cannot see or properly value these assets.

Our primary target customers are financial services institutions – banks, lenders, and insurers – who need better insight into borrowers’ true asset base for more informed lending decisions and risk assessment. We also serve companies across sectors who need to understand and demonstrate their hidden value drivers and professional services like lawyers who need fuller context to give the best advice (most of our revenue today)

The scale is huge: the global intangible asset economy has reached £79.4 trillion, which we think has at least £280 billion of unseen collateral representing £4 billion in untapped annual fees. And IP-rich business are excellent credits: 40% lower default rates and 50% lower loss given default rates.

3. What is your solution/USP, and who do you compete with?

 

We’ve automated expert intellectual property knowledge through AI-driven technology, reducing traditional IP audit costs by 94% whilst maintaining professional-grade accuracy. This allows us to identify and value assets with little marginal cost, as if armies of professionals were doing it.

Our secret sauce is our proprietary knowledge graphs containing over 12,000 expert rules combined with large language models to deliver comprehensive IP discovery, valuation, and risk assessment. Our unique B2B2B model works through professional services partners like Dentons – the world’s largest law firm – to reach end customers.

We primarily compete with traditional human-powered services delivered on a custom, non-regular basis: tens of billable hours from lawyers and consultants for basic IP audits. And banks doing opportunistic, highly customised financings for only the largest borrowers. Unlike existing software that requires extensive user interaction, our platform provides automated, expert-level analysis integrated into business processes.

The difference is they tell you what you already knew. We show you what you didn’t know you had.

4. What are the industry trends or market shifts in your space?

Global intangible assets grew 28% in 2024, reaching a record high of USD 79.4 trillion (Brand Finance, 2024)

Industry data shows IP-rich businesses have significantly better credit quality (mentioned above) but also are better businesses: 41% more revenue per employee, 2.4x more financing capacity, and 3-10x higher likelihood of raising equity.

Lenders we speak to are falling over themselves trying to figure out how to lend to asset-light/less businesses. Financial institutions are responding – NatWest offers IP-backed loans up to £10 million, whilst HSBC has a £350 million pool of assets available for this lending.

Intanify is giving visibility to the invisible to help this.

5. What is your company’s current stage and traction?

We’ve achieved significant commercial validation with £40,000 revenue since first monetisation, growing from zero to £20,000 in just a few months.

But here’s the real validation: we’re serving global enterprises including listed companies and have successfully originated our first loan – connecting Audiebant to HSBC for a seven-figure financing deal they couldn’t access without our asset identification.

We’ve raised £870,000 from QVentures, angels from the likes of Goldman Sachs, Citadel, and Dentons, plus two Innovate UK grants. Our professional services pipeline includes partnerships with major law firms like Dentons and Mathys & Squire.

We’re rapidly scaling our proven B2B2B model whilst maintaining exceptional capital efficiency, targeting profitability by Q1 next year.

6. Your plans for the next 6-18 months?

Our primary focus will be conducting more pilots with lenders, demonstrating how they can gain better insight into the 90% of borrower assets they currently cannot see. This enables better lending decisions, increased loan sizes, and improved recovery in workout situations.

We’re seeking conversations with interested lenders – banks, challenger banks, specialist lenders, and insurers – who want early access to transformative credit intelligence capabilities.

Your network’s connections within financial services would be invaluable for accelerating these partnerships.

7. What’s on your bookshelf or podcast app? Your favourite place for a coffee or a drink?

Current reading includes On the Edge: The Art of Risking Everything by Nate Silver, Sum: Tales from the Afterlives by David Eagleman, The Handover: How We Gave Control of Our Lives to Corporations, States and AIs by David Runciman, The Innovation Stack by Jim McKelvey, and Talent by Tyler Cowen and Daniel Gross.

For coffee or drinks, you’ll find me at Lore of the Land or Shochu Lounge in London Fitzrovia!