logo
NZ Startup Litmaps Acquires US Rival And Raises $1M To Accelerate AI-Driven Research Worldwide

NZ Startup Litmaps Acquires US Rival And Raises $1M To Accelerate AI-Driven Research Worldwide

Scoop07-05-2025

Press Release – Litmaps
Litmaps acquisition of ResearchRabbits tool with a sizable user base brings Litmaps closer to becoming the worlds most widely adopted home for literature discovery, merging its distinctive visual citation maps and trusted AI tools with …
(Wellington, NZ) – Litmaps, an AI-powered research discovery platform, has announced the first close of a $1 million raise after doubling its ARR to $1M and acquiring US-based research tool ResearchRabbit which will supercharge its global user base to over 2 million. Now one of the world's fastest-growing research discovery platforms, Litmaps has become an essential tool for researchers, scientists and students globally, including most of the major universities as they strive to increase the impact of their research.
'Most tools for navigating academic literature are outdated, clunky or simply not built for the way modern science works. Litmaps flips that by giving researchers a clear, visual way to understand what's already been done; and just as crucially, what hasn't. 'We're helping scientists move faster, avoid duplication and focus on conducting the research that actually helps them push humanity forward,' says Axton Pitt, Co-founder – Litmaps.
'We've already seen Litmaps unlock insights in everything from climate research to cancer detection. With growing institutional interest, we're ready to bring this capability to every corner of academia and commercial R&D. The opportunity is enormous because better research tools mean faster innovation,' Pitt adds.
Litmaps' acquisition of ResearchRabbit's tool with a sizable user base brings Litmaps closer to becoming the world's most widely adopted home for literature discovery, merging its distinctive visual citation maps and trusted AI tools with additional insights and impressive UX improvements.
The round's first close (of NZ$680K) was led by UK-based Scholarly Angels. 'Litmaps is at the forefront of a number of companies that are disrupting traditional discovery with a combination of AI and citation network analysis,' says Andrew Preston, Lead Investor at Scholarly Angels and Founder of Publons (acquired by Clarivate). 'Their successful B2C model combined with the acquisition of Research Rabbit positions them for rapid expansion and significant impact. We look forward to supporting their growth,' he adds.
Everyday application
Litmaps helps researchers answer key questions like: Who's published in this space? What are the emerging themes? Where are the gaps? Unlike traditional tools, it delivers a dynamic, visualised view of prior research backed by AI and verified data – without the hallucinations of large language models. The browser-based tool saves engineers and scientists time by combining interactive citation maps, modern search tools and models of a researchers' existing knowledge to create an accurate and visual research discovery experience. Its datasets include open metadata of scientific papers published in journals like Nature, and The Lancet, PubMed, and arXiv.org out of Cornell University.
Litmaps supports researchers at institutions including Harvard, Stanford, Imperial College London, and University of Cambridge and is being used everywhere from AI labs to medtech startups.
One Orthopaedic Trauma Surgeon with an impressive 35-year career in the field uses Litmaps to conduct pre-surgical research and comments that it's like having a second opinion before they step into the operating room. Even with decades of experience, Dr. Muñoz continuously stays up-to-date on recent research in his field. His use of Litmaps is 'often theoretical, [but] sometimes it has clinical application.' The latter is especially true when Dr. Muñoz wants to quickly understand any recent developments for special clinical cases such as addressing a unique fracture case.
Tech-powered science gaining traction
Litmaps' large user base spans the globe including the U.S., India, Indonesia and China – evidence of a fast-growing global movement toward tech-powered science. Its growth comes from relentless focus on product-led growth 'We've built a product scientists actually want to use. It's fun, intuitive and most importantly – trusted,' says Co-founder Axton Pitt. 'When you're making decisions that affect your whole career or large investments in R&D, you need confidence. Litmaps gives users that confidence because its outputs are verified. It is not a black box and you can see this evidence visually.'
'Science deserves better software,' says Pitt. 'And we're just getting started.'
About Litmaps
Litmaps is a Wellington-based software startup building the world's most intuitive AI-powered platform for research discovery. With over 2 million users, Litmaps helps scientists, academics and R&D teams explore prior research through interactive visual maps, trusted citation data and validated AI insights.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

US-China trade truce back on track, Trump says
US-China trade truce back on track, Trump says

Otago Daily Times

time18 minutes ago

  • Otago Daily Times

US-China trade truce back on track, Trump says

A deal getting the fragile truce in the US-China trade war back on track is done, US President Donald Trump said, after negotiators from Washington and Beijing agreed on a framework covering tariff rates. The deal also removes Chinese export restrictions on rare earth minerals and allows Chinese students access to American universities. Trump took to his social media platform to offer some of the first details to emerge from two days of marathon talks held in London that had, in the words of US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, put "meat on the bones" of an agreement reached last month in Geneva to ease bilateral retaliatory tariffs that had reached crushing triple-digit levels. "Our deal with China is done, subject to final approval with President Xi and me," Trump said on the Truth Social platform. "Full magnets, and any necessary rare earths, will be supplied, up front, by China. Likewise, we will provide to China what was agreed to, including Chinese students using our colleges and universities (which has always been good with me!). We are getting a total of 55% tariffs, China is getting 10%." A White House official said the 55% represents the sum of a baseline 10% "reciprocal" tariff Trump has imposed on goods imported from nearly all US trading partners; 20% on all Chinese imports because of punitive measures Trump has imposed on China, Mexico and Canada associated with his accusation that the three facilitate the flow of the opioid fentanyl into the US; and finally pre-existing 25% levies on imports from China that were put in place during Trump's first term in the White House. Lutnick said the 55% rate for Chinese imports is now fixed and unalterable. Asked on Wednesday on CNBC if the tariff levels on China would not change, he said: "You can definitely say that." Still, many specifics of the deal and details for how it would be implemented remain unclear. China's commerce ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment and more information. Framework for a deal Officials from the two superpowers had gathered at a rushed meeting in London starting on Monday following a call last week between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping that broke a standoff that had developed just weeks after a preliminary deal reached in Geneva that had defused their trade war. The Geneva deal had faltered over China's continued curbs on critical minerals exports, prompting the Trump administration to respond with export controls preventing shipments of semiconductor design software, aircraft and other goods to China. Lutnick said the agreement reached in London would remove restrictions on Chinese exports of rare earth minerals and magnets and some of the recent US export restrictions "in a balanced way," but did not provide details after the talks concluded . "We have reached a framework to implement the Geneva consensus and the call between the two presidents," Lutnick said, adding that both sides will now return to present the framework to their respective presidents for approvals. "And if that is approved, we will then implement the framework," he said. In a separate briefing, China's Vice Commerce Minister Li Chenggang also said a trade framework had been reached in principle that would be taken back to US and Chinese leaders. 'BACK TO SQUARE ONE' Trump's shifting tariff policies have roiled global markets, sparked congestion and confusion in major ports, and cost companies tens of billions of dollars in lost sales and higher costs. US stocks drifted lower on Wednesday but have recouped most of the losses suffered earlier in the spring during Trump's wave of tariff announcements. "It's a done deal, according to President Trump, but we haven't seen any details, which is why I think the market is not reacting to it yet. As with just about everything, the devil is in the details," said Oliver Pursche, senior vice president and adviser at Wealthspire Advisors in Westport, Connecticut. The World Bank on Tuesday slashed its global growth forecast for 2025 by four-tenths of a percentage point to 2.3%, saying higher tariffs and heightened uncertainty posed a "significant headwind" for nearly all economies. The US-China deal may keep the Geneva agreement from unravelling over duelling export controls, but does little to resolve deep differences over Trump's unilateral tariffs and longstanding US complaints about China's state-led, export-driven economic model. "If China will course correct by upholding its end of the initial trade agreement we outlined in Geneva - and I believe after our talks in London, they will - then the rebalancing of the world' largest economies is possible," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told members of Congress on Wednesday after returning from the London talks overnight. The two sides left Geneva with fundamentally different views of the terms of that agreement and needed to be more specific on required actions, said Josh Lipsky, senior director of the Atlantic Council's GeoEconomics Center in Washington. "They are back to square one, but that's much better than square zero," Lipsky added. It was not immediately clear from Trump's comments where things stood regarding the timeline for a more comprehensive deal that had been reached last month in Geneva. There, the two sides set August 10 as the deadline to negotiate a more comprehensive agreement to ease trade tensions, or tariff rates would snap back from about 30% to 145% on the US side and from 10% to 125% on the Chinese side. (Reporting by Doina Chiacu in Washington and Alistair Smout in London; Additional reporting by David Milliken and William James in London and Sachin Ravikumar; Ethan Wang, Shi Bu, Yuhan Lin and Alessandro Diviggiano in Beijing; Caroline Valetkevitch in New York; Writing by David Lawder, Kate Holton and Liz Lee; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Paul Simao)

Queenstown open for skiing action on Saturday
Queenstown open for skiing action on Saturday

Otago Daily Times

time42 minutes ago

  • Otago Daily Times

Queenstown open for skiing action on Saturday

It is not too shabby for an opening day. NZSki chief executive Paul Anderson says both The Remarkables and Coronet Peak will open as scheduled from 9am on Saturday, with the latter opening from top to bottom. At Coronet, all the beginner conveyor lifts, the Meadows Chair and Coronet Express would be in action — Rocky Gully and Green gates would not be open, "but we'll be looking to add those in as soon as we can stitch that together". At The Remarkables, the learners' conveyors, Alta and Curvey Basin would be open for action, with Sugar Bowl and Shadow Basin still to come, Mr Anderson said. "Our whole objective in getting both mountains open on the same day is to send a really, really strong signal to the market that ... Queenstown's open for business, and hopefully you see that switch flipped and the town gets busy very quickly." Mr Anderson said last weekend's perfectly timed snowfall had been supplemented by a huge amount of snowmaking, which he believed had been the longest period of snowmaking in Queenstown for a decade. "And the new guns we've got up there, they are just incredible." At The Remarkables, for example, the whales of snow from the guns were higher than the conveyor covers. "It just gives you an idea of the amount of snow they were belting out." He estimated Coronet was opening with between 60cm and 120cm on trail, and about 60cm at The Remarkables. "We're kind of expecting the locals to come out in force once they hear how good the on-trail skiing is ... It'll be nice to get a bit of a dump before school holidays, but with or without it, we're going to have a good school holidays, I can see that." Cardrona, which along with Treble Cone is owned by Queenstown-based company RealNZ, will also open on Saturday. Chief mountains officer Laura Hedley said thanks to an "incredible effort" from the snowmaking team, and some help from Mother Nature, the McDougall's Chondola and the learner conveyors would be spinning. Skiers and boarders would be able to access McDougalls' trail and the beginners' area from Saturday, while the North Face Cardrona parks crew would also put in a few features in McPark, the temporary early-season terrain park under McDougalls. "Our new base area building is nearing completion, and we are aiming to get our new Cardrona Corner retail shop open on Saturday, too," Ms Hedley said. To reflect the early season offering, Cardies day passes will be at early season rates until Whitestar Express opens. Treble Cone is scheduled to open on June 28.

Sex workers battle Queenstown strip shows
Sex workers battle Queenstown strip shows

Otago Daily Times

time42 minutes ago

  • Otago Daily Times

Sex workers battle Queenstown strip shows

A sex workers' collective is calling for a new Queenstown bar featuring strip shows to be shut down as it is not operating under an "adult entertainment" liquor licence. The Ultimate Man Cave Seek — 40% owned by controversial Christchurch-based strip club chain Calendar Girls — opened last Friday in underground Church St premises formerly occupied by the Seek nightclub. Promotions for the venue's first two nights depicted two strippers around a pole and promised "lap dancers, private rooms, karaoke, gaming — whatever you desire we're here to provide". However, Calendar Girls founder James Samson said the bar was primarily a sports tavern, which only had Calendar Girls strip shows, lap dances and pole dancing on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights from 9pm. Early this year, Christchurch-based Alan Samson Ltd, whose sole director is James Samson's mother, Vicki Samson, bought 40% of Seek Night Club Ltd with the intention of buying the remaining shares over 18 months. Mr Samson is barred from owning a company after being jailed on drugs charges. Seek Night Club Ltd then applied for an adult entertainment liquor licence, which attracted a total of 71 written objections. The Queenstown Lakes District Council confirmed "there is currently no date set for a hearing". In its application, Seek Night Club Ltd said when it reopened it would remain a tavern until its adult entertainment liquor licence was granted. Sex workers union Fired Up Stilettos chairwoman Bianca Beebe said "we were really surprised to learn they're able to reopen on an expired tavern licence, particularly since the police objected very strongly to the idea you can operate a strip club on a tavern licence". Though that licence had expired, "you're allowed to continue operating your licence if you have already applied for a renewal" — which had been in train since mid-last year, the council confirmed. A tavern licence permits "entertainment", which Ms Beebe said she thought was being used as a loophole to allow Calendar Girls to run strip shows at the venue. "Unfortunately, neither in statutory or case law does it define what entertainment is." She said the situation was "making a mockery of all of Queenstown's restrictions, and honestly I don't understand how every business owner who has a legitimate licence isn't furious". "I would ask if Queenstown council wants to be a joke. "Seek/Calendar Girls were told they cannot operate a strip club on a tavern licence, and here they are explicitly advertising for and operating a strip club under a tavern licence." Ms Beebe questioned whether the council was going to be played for a fool, "or are you going to do something about this?" Queenstown Mayor Glyn Lewers said his regulatory team was preparing a report for the district licensing committee on whether the venue could operate under its existing tavern licence due to the "entertainment" provision. "There is case law that defines what a tavern is, but there's nothing that talks about entertainment that we can see. "From my point of view, there is a grey area. "Look, they might be testing the limits on 'entertainment' with respect to a tavern, but I'm not the decision-maker here." Asked if lap dancing and nude dancing were normal entertainment in a tavern, Mr Lewers said "I might be old school". "[For me] it's turning up for a jug with your mates with a bit of pool and watching a bit of sport on TV and the occasional meat raffle." Asked if council could apply some urgency to its decision-making , he responded: "look, like with all legislation from central government, they've got timeframes to meet". As for the adult entertainment licence application, "we'll prepare a report and take into account all the submissions". "That report will then go to the district licensing committee, and if the applicant wants to pursue that licence, that will go to a hearing and that hearing will be made public, and it will be on our website." Mr Samson, however, said he would now withdraw the application for an adult entertainment licence. Last September, a petition trying to stop Calendar Girls coming to Queenstown was launched by a dancer from existing local strip club Soho. Spurred by concerns over Mr Samson's link to Calendar Girls and over the chain's alleged "labour exploitation", it attracted 1724 signatures before it was pulled by its host website.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store