Pitchbook recently sent out a list of the 80 VC-backed companies that have gone through an IPO this year, so we decided to do some research* to explore the connection between IPOs and patents.

Here’s what we found:

• 96.25% of the companies on this list own or license patents (77 out of 80)
• 7.5% of the companies only licensed patents (6 out of 80)

An Office of Chief Economist Report also found that a granted patent increases the probability of an IPO by 153% or an exit through acquisition by 84%. This correlation between patents and IPO is an important one, since the ultimate goal for most businesses is to make money and, often, the largest windfall comes from either being acquired or through an IPO.

Check back next week for a post about how patents increase both the funding and valuation of these companies. In the meantime, get your free copy of The 30-Minute Patent MBA to learn more about how startups can benefit from patents.

*The data presented in this post is based on publicly available USPTO data as of November 16, 2018. Patent applications that have not yet been published or were filed in countries other than the U.S. are not reflected in this report. Also, companies may own additional assets that have been acquired through acquisition, but USPTO assignment records do not always accurately reflect this.

TurboPatent has no affiliation with Pitchbook. All of the data presented in this report was collected from publicly available records provided by the USPTO.