SuperH Connects Worldwide IP to Help Customers Advance
Big data is big news. We’ve all heard the stats. More data has been created in the past two years than in the entire history of the human race—and it’s growing faster than ever before.
But, less than 0.5% of all data is ever analyzed and used.
SuperH, a young, Columbus-based data analytics firm started by two professors, who refer to themselves as the strategist and the physicist, is tackling that challenge. SuperH captures global information about science- and technology-related intellectual property (IP) and then applies algorithms that map the emergence of science within an industry.
“Our premise is to connect massive open data sources and identify well before the rest of the world, leading science and market disruption,” said Stephanie Hughes, CEO. “We provide a richness of analysis and detail that was previously not available.”
Connecting massive data sets to help companies identify IP and expertise
Research and invention are vital to companies based on technology, especially in the medical and biotech industries. Richard Hughes, SuperH co-founder and professor of physics at The Ohio State University, understands that well. It’s his extensive expertise in data analytics, including the design and use of artificial neural networks, that led to the unique solution that SuperH is bring to the marketplace.
“Think of SuperH as an adjunct to a firm’s R&D discovery process,” said Stephanie Hughes. Her background includes working in the intelligence space for both the government and corporate sectors and, for the last 14 years, as a professor of business strategy.
“A company would come to us, for example, to uncover the leading science around an emerging area of opportunity or to fill in gaps in its own research, regardless of where it is happening in the world,” she said.
A firm might want to leverage a core competency or could be in a race against time and be seeking to acquire technology.
“Suppose you are in new product development and struggling with a particular molecular hurdle, we can help you uncover who else in the world is doing your particular type of search. This can significantly accelerate the discovery process.”
The SuperH algorithms create an electronic portfolio that connects and qualifies all that IP based on a ranking system that considers the veracity of the science, the citation activity, the recentness and depth of the research, and the collaborators on the project. All the information is gleaned from public data sources.
“We have a methodology that is very rich in content for finding basic research and then within those organizations identifying which scientists have the most relevant portfolios around that research,” said Hughes. “Or a company might be looking for more advanced science; in that case, SuperH can help identify sources of applied activity, such as STTR, SBIR, or other types of grants.”
Expanding applications and industries
SuperH is initially targeting firms in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and manufacturing, as well as the Department of Defense and the Environmental Protection Agency. (EPA).
“We are in conversations with a company that wants to capture and track government bid opportunities and their success with these bids,” Hughes said. “Two other research organizations are interested in getting their arms around the IP assets they own and then connecting those portfolios to grant opportunities.”
The common thread that SuperH supplies is the ability to identify and triangulate data to help corporations make business decisions and resource trade-offs with greater confidence.
“We understand where the data resides. We know how to clean, standardize, map and repurpose data from various data sources,” Hughes said. “We supply the mechanics to visualize that data and make decisions. Our skill set and technology can be applied across industries.”
SuperH will be presenting at Rev1’s 2016 Demo Day.
