PatentIt wins UF AI Days Pitch Competition

PatentIt, a patent analytics and filing tool, was awarded first place in this year’s UF AI Days Pitch Competition. The platform uses an AI search feature that provides a sentence-by-sentence analysis and risk score to help simplify the patent process for entrepreneurs.

Founders Alexander Simes (BS Mechanical Engineering ’26) and Utsav Sharma (BS Biochemistry ’25) worked together to bring their idea for the company to life. They approached Ashni Zaverchand (BS Biomedical Engineering ’25) with the idea, and she now heads their business development. VJ Somasundaram (BS Computer Science ’25, MSF ’25) also serves as lead developer.

They were united by the on-campus organization Dream Team Engineering where Zaverchand is the President, Simes is the Vice President, and Sharma is the director of research

“Through Dream Team Engineering, we all just fell in love with innovation,” said Simes. 

In his sophomore year of high school, Simes was hospitalized with pneumonia. During that time, he saw an issue with CPAP masks, so he designed a product that could solve that. From that experience, he learned about the grueling process of filing an intellectual property (IP) patent.

“I built a great product, but then I kind of neglected IP, and the reason for that is because it’s so expensive to file a patent; it’s between $20,000-$40,000,” Simes said.

The team is passionate about ensuring patents are more accessible. 

“I think there’s something so fundamental about people being able to protect what they create,” said Simes.

Prior to working on PatentIt, Sharma created a facial recognition algorithm app that tested whether users had depression. The algorithm he created had a 66% accuracy. He has an extensive background in research, particularly data analysis.

“I called Alex one day, and I was like: ‘Hey, I have an idea. Let’s make an AI for research.’ And he was like: ‘I have a better idea. Let’s make an AI for patents,’” Sharma shared. “It just turned into something beautiful.”

Along with the winning title is a $5,000 prize.

With the money, the company plans to scale their database up from 10,000 patents to 1.5 million patents by December.  

“We’re going to scale it up to help with [user interface] and [user experience] so that it feels like a premium legal search tool,” said Simes.

Prior to entering the competition, the team talked to previous UF AI Days Pitch competition winner Nishant Nagururu (BS ’26), who co-founded Candor with Akshat Pant (BS ’24). The Candor team was also involved with Dream Team Engineering.

“I think Dream Team Engineering has this beautiful culture of innovators,” Simes said.

While the PatentIt team put a lot of time into preparing for the competition, they made a major change to their slide deck the day before.

“I’d been so detailed in on the tech and like, what we were doing in our pricing that I kind of had lost sight of [answering]: Well, who are you? Why do I want to invest in you?” said Simes.

That light bulb moment made the team shift to talk more about their story in their pitch. 

Jamie Kraft is the director of the UF Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center. In his words, “The PatentIt team did a great job delivering their concept in a professional, seamless presentation, focusing on a pathway to commercialization for their product while outlining the technological details succinctly. In addition, the existing gap in the marketplace was well-defined and the business model was made clear.”

Unlike previous years, all teams in the top five will take home $5,000, including:

• CrediLift – A credit scoring platform that leverages artificial intelligence and alternative financial data such as utility payments, mobile transactions, and rent payment history to create a reliable credit scoring system for unbanked individuals.
• Gathr – An app that enables students to discover what’s happening on their campus by connecting student organizations to potential members and vice versa.
• MentorShip – An app that helps patients connect with others experiencing similar challenges, reducing isolation and building community.
• StopSafe – An app designed to make traffic stops safer for drivers by leveraging a highly trained virtual assistant.

The competition is presented by the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center within the Warrington College of Business.

“The UF AI Days Pitch Competition is an important experiential learning opportunity for entrepreneurial students to pitch their concepts, gain feedback and advice from experts, expand their network on campus, and fund their business ideas with micro-funding,” said Kraft.