Oskar Block has always been drawn to entrepreneurship. At 18, he founded his first startup focused on machine learning models for sports betting. “I’ve always been drawn to solving difficult data problems,” he told TechCrunch. Afterward, he moved into consulting, aiding businesses with AI integration and understanding how to get large enterprises on board with the technology.
Block later joined an autonomous trucking firm, witnessing the slow nature of the patent process. The concept for his new company formed during a dinner with friend Tobias Estreen. Estreen’s father, a patent attorney, described his repetitive work routine. Block saw an opportunity and, alongside Estreen, Petrus Werner, and Oscar Adamsson, launched Stilta. This AI platform automates the research and analytical tasks in intellectual property cases, historically slow and costly in patent litigation. On Tuesday, the startup announced a $10.5 million seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz, with investors like Y Combinator and professionals from OpenAI, Legora, and Lovable.
Block, Stilta’s CEO, explains that Stilta functions like a team of lawyers. Users input a patent number and related content, and AI agents search for conflicting patents, similar properties, and the filing and court history. “They reason in parallel and converge like a room full of specialists,” Block stated, noting that the user remains in control of the analysis. “The output is litigation-grade: a report and claim charts with pinpoint citations.”
Competitors in this space include Solve Intelligence and DeepIP. Legal tech is booming with the AI surge. Block noted that parts of the legal field are adapting to AI, while others lag. The analytical work is becoming AI-driven, but humans still decide case outcomes. He mentioned many companies hold unused patents due to high analysis costs. Stilta aims to reduce this barrier, making patent litigation more efficient and affordable, potentially unlocking dormant IP value for companies.
“The question isn’t if the legal system is ready for AI,” Block said. “It’s whether companies are prepared for what becomes possible when the analytical bottleneck disappears.”
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