Opagio vs Ocean Tomo for SMEs: Services Compared
Opagio vs Ocean Tomo (J.S. Held) compared: IP expert services and advisory, or a subscription platform for intangible assets. Services, methods and fit.
Introduction
Ocean Tomo, a part of J.S. Held, describes itself as "The Intellectual Capital Merchant Banc™ Firm". Per its own site (accessed 17 Oct 2026), it provides expert opinion, management consulting, advisory and patent analysis services, and states that it has "executed over 1000 engagements involving IP worth in excess of $10 billion". It publishes the Intangible Asset Market Value Study; the 2025 edition reports that intangible assets "now constitute approximately 92% of S&P 500 market capitalization".
Ocean Tomo states that it assists "corporations, law firms, governments and institutional investors", and its site has client pages for Fortune 1000, middle-market and start-up companies. Opagio does not provide expert testimony, run IP auctions or act as a broker; where you need those, Ocean Tomo offers them.
Opagio is a subscription platform for identifying, valuing and tracking a company's intangible assets. This page sets out what each offers and which fits which need.
TL;DR: Choose Ocean Tomo (J.S. Held) if you need expert testimony on IP damages, IP auctions or brokerage, or investment banking on an IP-rich transaction. Ocean Tomo lists these services and Opagio does not offer them. Choose Opagio if you want a subscription platform that identifies, values and tracks your intangible assets for IP-backed lending, fundraising, exit preparation or PE/VC portfolio reporting.
About Ocean Tomo (J.S. Held)
Ocean Tomo is part of J.S. Held, which describes itself as a global consulting firm with "more than 1,500 professionals". Ocean Tomo's site lists these services (accessed 17 Oct 2026):
- Valuation of intellectual property, listed under its management consulting services
- Expert testimony and financial damages: Ocean Tomo states it has "conducted over 300 valuation engagements and 500 financial damages expert testimony engagements" and is "proud to serve more than 80% of the AM Law 100 firms"
- Patent analysis and reverse engineering services
- Intellectual property auctions and IP brokerage
- Investment banking and M&A advisory, including "debt and equity private placement"
- Trade secret management, including "trade secret reasonable measures"
- The Intangible Asset Market Value Study: the 2025 edition puts intangible assets at approximately 92% of S&P 500 market capitalisation; J.S. Held states the study reflects "50 years of data in the US market and 20 years of data in foreign markets"
Facts in this section are taken from oceantomo.com and jsheld.com, accessed 17 Oct 2026. See those sites for current details.
About Opagio
Opagio is a UK-headquartered intangible asset platform organised around Opagio 12™ — a proprietary taxonomy of twelve value drivers: Brand & Reputation, Customer Capital, Technology & Innovation, Content & IP, Data & Intelligence, Switching Costs & Lock-In, Network Effects & Platforms, Human Capital, Organisational Capital, Culture & Ways of Working, Regulatory & Compliance, and Ecosystem & Partnerships. Within those twelve drivers sits a comprehensive library of intangible asset types covering both statutory IP (patents, trademarks, designs, copyright, trade secrets) and non-statutory intangibles (customer relationships, organisational capital, data assets, human capital).
Opagio is delivered as a SaaS platform with one free product and one paid product:
- Opagio Growth Forecaster (free) — accessible scoring of intangible exposure for a single company; the upgrade path is a full Opagio Intangibles account
- Opagio Intangibles (paid platform) — the full discovery, valuation, and management environment, with modules including the Asset Valuator (Relief from Royalty, Multi-Period Excess Earnings, With and Without, Cost (replacement cost or sum of cost), Market (comparable transactions) and Greenfield methods), Growth Plan, Value Drivers Register, Normalised P&L and Intelligence
Opagio maps intangible assets to IFRS 3 / IAS 38 (UK and global) and ASC 805 (US). The platform is built for SMEs, growth-stage businesses, PE/VC funds and the advisers who serve them.
If you need expert testimony, IP auctions or brokerage, Ocean Tomo offers those services and Opagio does not. If you want a subscription platform to value and track intangible assets across your whole business, that is what Opagio is built for.
Side-by-Side Comparison
The table below sets out what each offers, criterion by criterion.
Side-by-side criteria
| Criterion | Opagio | Ocean Tomo (J.S. Held) |
|---|---|---|
| Delivery model | SaaS platform under subscription | Expert opinion, management consulting, advisory and patent analysis services (per Ocean Tomo) |
| Primary market | SMEs (£5M-£500M revenue), growth-stage businesses, PE/VC funds, advisors | Corporations, law firms, governments and institutional investors; client pages for Fortune 1000, middle-market and start-up companies (per Ocean Tomo) |
| Primary use cases | Discovery, valuation with a dated history, IP-backed lending preparation, fundraising, exit preparation, PE/VC portfolio reporting | Expert testimony and financial damages, IP valuation, IP auctions and brokerage, investment banking and M&A advisory, trade secret management (per Ocean Tomo) |
| Valuation methodology | Asset Valuator: RFR, MPEEM, With and Without, Cost (replacement cost or sum of cost), Market (comparable transactions), Greenfield; you choose the method; mapped to IFRS 3 / IAS 38 / ASC 805 | IP valuation by Ocean Tomo's team; brokerage through Ocean Tomo Investments, "a registered broker-dealer", member FINRA/SIPC (per Ocean Tomo) |
| Expert testimony | Not offered | Expert testimony and financial damages services; 500 financial damages expert testimony engagements (per Ocean Tomo) |
| IP auctions / brokerage | Not offered | Intellectual property auctions and IP brokerage (per Ocean Tomo) |
| Best fit when… | You want a subscription platform to identify, value and track intangible assets for lending, fundraising, exit or portfolio reporting | You need expert testimony, IP auctions or brokerage, or investment banking |
Why the two answer different questions
Example — Where Opagio is the better fit: A UK SME with £42M revenue and intangible assets spanning customer relationships, a granted patent, brand, organisational capital and data is preparing an IP-backed lending application. It wants a register of those assets and an asset-level valuation of each. Opagio's IP Audit (standard price £995+VAT; currently by waitlist) and Collateral Pack provide that evidence. Each lender decides what evidence it accepts, so ask the lender what it requires first.
Example — Where Ocean Tomo is the better fit: A company in patent infringement litigation needs a financial damages expert to give evidence. Ocean Tomo offers expert testimony and financial damages services. Opagio does not provide expert testimony.
Start with the question you need answered. Expert evidence in a dispute, an IP auction or an IP-rich transaction points to a specialist firm such as Ocean Tomo. Valuing and tracking your own intangible assets on a subscription points to Opagio.
How Opagio Tracks Change Over Time
Financial data and value-driver scores update monthly from Xero or CSV. Each asset valuation is saved with its date, so the register keeps a dated valuation history. Fund organisations can hold portfolio companies in one workspace, with marks per company, quarterly fund reports and cross-company comparison.
Methodology Comparison
Ocean Tomo lists intellectual property valuation among its management consulting services, and expert testimony and financial damages among its expert opinion services (per oceantomo.com, accessed 17 Oct 2026).
Opagio's Asset Valuator applies income, market and cost approaches: Relief from Royalty, Multi-Period Excess Earnings, With and Without, Cost (replacement cost or sum of cost), Market (comparable transactions) and Greenfield, with audit-trail evidence in a format aligned to IFRS 3 / IAS 38 (UK and global) and ASC 805 (US). The output is structured for review by a qualified valuer: for audit-sensitive or transaction-driven work, use the platform to automate the mechanical work and engage a qualified specialist to review and sign the final report.
Opagio does not provide expert testimony. Where a matter needs an expert, engage one.
FAQ
Is Opagio a competitor to Ocean Tomo?
Answer
We work in the same broad subject, the value of intellectual property and other intangible assets, through different services. Ocean Tomo, a part of J.S. Held, provides expert opinion, management consulting, advisory and patent analysis services. Opagio is a subscription platform for identifying, valuing and tracking intangible assets.
When should an SME use Ocean Tomo instead of Opagio?
Answer
When you need expert testimony on IP damages, an IP auction or broker, or investment banking on an IP-rich transaction. Ocean Tomo offers these services; Opagio does not.
When should I use Opagio instead of Ocean Tomo?
Answer
When you want a subscription platform to identify, value and track your intangible assets for IP-backed lending, fundraising, exit preparation, PE/VC portfolio reporting or board reporting.
Can I use Opagio's output in a courtroom?
Answer
Opagio is not an expert-witness service. Where a matter needs an expert report, engage a qualified expert. Opagio's output records the method, inputs and assumptions used, which the expert can review.
Does Ocean Tomo's research apply to my SME?
Answer
Ocean Tomo's 2025 study reports that intangible assets constitute approximately 92% of S&P 500 market capitalisation. To see what your own company's intangible assets are worth, Opagio values them from your company's own data.
How is Opagio priced?
Answer
Opagio's pricing is published on the pricing page: a free Growth Forecaster and paid Opagio Intangibles plans, tiered by company stage.
Where can I see Opagio in action?
Answer
Book a demo and we will walk through the Opagio 12™ taxonomy, the Asset Valuator module, the Collateral Pack, and the platform's portfolio views with a worked example relevant to your use case. The demo is run by a member of the Opagio team and typically takes 30-40 minutes.
Closing
Ocean Tomo, a part of J.S. Held, provides expert opinion, management consulting, advisory and patent analysis services, and publishes the Intangible Asset Market Value Study. Where you need expert testimony, IP auctions or brokerage, those are its services, not Opagio's.
Opagio is a subscription platform built around Opagio 12™. It identifies a company's intangible assets, values them with recognised methods, keeps a dated valuation history, and supports IP-backed lending (IP Audit and Collateral Pack), fundraising, exit preparation and PE/VC portfolio reporting.
The best way to know whether Opagio fits is to see it against a real scenario. Book a demo and bring a real context — a fundraising round, an IP-backed lending application, an exit-prep window, or a board-level intangible-value question. The team will walk you through the platform against your actual context.
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