What Scilan does

Scilan is an AI and Big Data platform that provides highly technical data to companies operating in scientific equipment and consumables markets. Founded in 2012 and headquartered in South San Francisco, California, the company operates an invitation-only 'Data x Science' platform and is a subsidiary of CompareNetworks Inc., with a primary operating entity (Scilan SAS) incorporated in France under French law. Its stated mission is to connect researchers, institutions, funders, publishers, vendors, and project teams through data products that automate the discovery and organization of scientific information.

The platform's core technology uses machine learning to algorithmically analyze multiple publicly available data sources, most notably scientific articles and patents, to detect and organize relevant information. Generation of the data products is entirely automatic—humans only design the initial generic algorithms and play no role in producing or validating outputs. The company offers four named products: Scirank (scientific niche comparison and ranking), Scitap (display of the latest scientific publications on institutional webpages), Scitence (real-time updates from research communities), and Scisnap (scientific partner discovery). It also delivers bespoke data services including one-time data reports or lists and recurring data access over defined periods via proprietary data connectors. Infrastructure is hosted on Google Cloud.

Scilan monetizes through a freemium entry point—a free 'Initial Test' sample to validate fitness—followed by one-time paid data reports and recurring subscriptions that tacitly renew. Pricing is quote-based rather than publicly disclosed. The company addresses six horizontal customer segments (researchers, team science/project teams, institutions, funders, publishers, and vendors), uses a community-led, invitation-only go-to-market motion, and maintains GDPR compliance. No public funding events, named paying customers, or disclosed revenue figures are present in the available data, and the platform is still presented as an early-access product lab.

Name

Scilan

Legal name

Scilan SAS

Website

https://scilan.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Scilan is an AI and data platform that algorithmically analyzes scientific articles and patents to deliver automated technical data products to companies in the scientific equipment and consumables market.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Scientific Data Analytics

NAICS

Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services (54169), Web Search Portals and All Other Information Services (51929)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Medical Affairs Scientific Communications (MSL Support/Scientific Response) (HLAGALAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Medical Affairs, Scientific Communications & HEOR FSP (HLAGAOAG), Life Sciences (Biology, Ecology, Agriculture) Scholarly Publishing (EDAGAFAC)

Keywords

• Scientific data analytics
• AI research platform
• Scientific publication monitoring
• Research collaboration tools
• Scientific partner discovery

Headquarters

HQ city

South San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. One-time Data Reports: Scilan provides one-time data reports or data lists to customers. Customers can verify fitness during an initial free test phase before ordering.
2. Recurring Data Access: Customers can access data over a given time period through proprietary data connectors. Recurring payments tacitly renew unless terminated by either party.
3. Data Connector Setup: Scilan can set up and deliver data access via proprietary data connectors for customers with ongoing data needs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Scilan provides highly technical data reports, lists, and continuous data access to companies that sell highly technical scientific goods or services. It delivers this through an algorithmic, machine-learning platform that automatically processes publicly available sources such as scientific articles and patents, offering named products (Scirank, Scitap, Scitence, Scisnap) for scientific niche ranking, publication display, real-time community updates, and partner discovery.

Product overview

Scilan is a data and science platform that provides highly technical data relevant to technical markets. The platform is invitation-only at this stage and is built by a team of scientists and engineers using machine learning and data analytics to connect science players (researchers, institutions, publishers, vendors, and funders). The product portfolio consists of four named offerings: Scirank for exploring scientific niches, Scitap for displaying publications on web pages, Scitence for real-time research community updates, and Scisnap for discovering scientific partners. These products operate alongside data services including one-time data reports or lists, and time-based data access delivered via proprietary data connectors. The platform algorithmically processes publicly available sources such as scientific articles and patents without human review.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Scirank: Scientific ranking solution to explore all scientific niches.
• Scitap
• Scitence
• Scisnap

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability1 record

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Google (Cloud Infrastructure)coreTechnology or IntegrationScilan uses Google Cloud infrastructure to store data on secure servers. The privacy policy explicitly states that personal information is stored on secure servers operated by Google, though these servers may be located in several different countries.
• CompareNetworkscoreOthersCompareNetworks Inc is the parent company of Scilan. The terms of service state the contract is between the user and CompareNetworks Inc. The legal notice identifies the domain as owned by SCILAN.

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Digital Science (Dimensions, Altmetric, ReadCube): Digital Science builds research analytics and workflow tools across the scientific ecosystem, including Dimensions (analytics), Altmetric (attention tracking), and ReadCube. Its multi-sided approach to connecting researchers, institutions, publishers, and funders closely mirrors Scilan's platform structure.
• Semantic Scholar (Allen Institute for AI): Semantic Scholar is an AI-powered scientific literature search and discovery platform built on automated analysis of academic papers. Its algorithmic approach to extracting insights from scientific articles without human curation is the closest functional parallel to Scilan's automated pipeline.
• PatSnap: PatSnap provides AI-driven patent and scientific intelligence to R&D and innovation teams. Its algorithmic analysis of patents and scientific literature, combined with analytics for institutional customers, directly overlaps with Scilan's patent-aware data products.
• Scientist.com: Scientist.com operates a marketplace connecting scientific researchers with vendors of research services and products. Its vendor-to-institution connection model directly aligns with one of Scilan's named value propositions and target buyer segments.
• BenchSci: BenchSci applies AI/ML to scientific literature and reagent data to help life science researchers select experimental tools. It is directly comparable to Scilan's automated analysis of scientific articles and its Scitence/Scirank workflows serving life science researchers and vendors.

Emerging players

• Connected Papers: Connected Papers builds AI visualizations of scientific paper relationships to help researchers explore related literature. It overlaps with Scilan's Scirank (niche exploration) and Scitence (community updates) for the individual researcher segment.
• LabVine: LabVine is a digital marketplace connecting life science researchers with laboratory equipment and consumable vendors. It targets the same vendor-to-institution buyer flow that Scilan's platform explicitly aims to enable.

Broad incumbents

• Clarivate (Web of Science / Dimensions): Clarivate owns Web of Science and Dimensions, providing scientific research intelligence, publication analytics, and funding data to institutions and funders. These capabilities directly overlap with Scilan's data reports and recurring data access offerings targeting the same institutional and funder buyer segments.
• Google Scholar: Google Scholar is the dominant free scientific literature search engine used by researchers globally. While broader in scope and not commercially positioned, it sets the baseline experience against which Scilan's Scitence and Scirank algorithmic outputs must compete for researcher attention.
• Elsevier (Scopus / SciVal): Elsevier operates Scopus and SciVal, the dominant scientific literature indexing and analytics platforms used by institutions worldwide. It directly competes with Scilan's Scirank (niche exploration) and Scitence (research community insights) capabilities but as part of a much broader publishing and analytics portfolio.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Scilan