LegalTechnology Hub’s Post

🚨 Clio, a Canadian legal tech company, has raised $900 million in a Series F round, valuing it at $3 billion The company provides cloud-based software to help law firms manage their practices more efficiently. Key highlights: 1. Valuation nearly doubled from $1.6 billion in April 2021 2. ARR exceeded $200 million, up from $100 million in June 2022 3. Profitable (EBITDA positive) for several years 4. Used by over 150,000 legal professionals 5. New Enterprise Associates (NEA) led the round with a $500 million investment Growth drivers: 1. COVID-19 accelerated cloud technology adoption 2. Increasing interest in AI for legal productivity 3. Integration of payments processing, now handling billions annually Future plans: 1. Double down on AI and fintech 2. Release Clio Duo, an integrated generative AI assistant 3. Expand presence in mid-market law firms and APAC region The raise is notable given the current venture capital environment, where mega-rounds are less common. Clio - Cloud-Based Legal Technology #ai #startup #legaltech #tech

March Capital in California has led a $40 million Series B funding round in Cambridge ‘legal-grade’ AI technology company Luminance. https://lnkd.in/dfjmXcPw Off the back of 5x ARR growth in the last two years, the funding will be used to propel Luminance’s global growth plans and expand its US footprint as it continues to drive innovation in the legal AI market.  Santa Monica-based growth-stage venture firm, March Capital was joined in the Series B round by National Grid Partners and other existing investors, including Slaughter and May.  Luminance CEO, Eleanor Lightbody, said: “This latest round of funding will help us to bring our technology to new markets, strengthen our foothold in the United States where Luminance now generates over one third of its revenue, and solidify our position as the clear market leader in this space.” Luminance’s specialist legal Large Language Model (LLM) automates the generation, negotiation and analysis of contracts and other legal documents for a rapidly growing customer base spanning 600 organisations in 70 countries. Hyun Koo, Partner at March Capital, added: “We invest in AI-native companies solving large, mission critical problems. Given the inefficiencies and complexity that exist today in legal workflows, we immediately saw the potential for Luminance to drive efficiency with its industry leading LLM. “Luminance’s breadth of enterprise customers speaks to its capabilities, and we are thrilled to partner with their highly technical and growth-minded team to help build a successful, leading and global legal AI company.” Ian Cooper, Managing Director at National Grid Partners, said: “The power and utilities sector, as a regulated industry, deals with a vast amount of legal and contractual documentation. “Luminance's innovative legal LLM and advanced AI assistant shows great promise in being able to relieve contract processing bottlenecks and enhance contract performance monitoring. We're optimistic that Luminance's platform will be a valuable tool for power and utilities customers.” 

Best news - congratulations to Noory Bechor, Ilan Admon and the entire Superlegal team for raising a $5 million seed round! Bringing Gen-AI to contract review - and the only AI licensed to practice law in the US - Superlegal's platform streamlines contract review, enhances negotiation outcomes, and ensures legal compliance for businesses across various industries. The round was led by Aleph and Disruptive AI Venture Capital, and joined by Alicorn Venture Partners and Tom Glover. Here's to a world with better, more efficient legal processes. Read more about it in Business Insider, linked below. Eden Shochat | Yorai Fainmesser | Alexander Assim

🇧🇪 Belgium's #LegalTech sector is rapidly gaining traction, ready to revolutionize the traditionally cautious legal industry with innovative solutions. Despite historical reluctance to adopt new technologies, momentum is shifting as new technologies become regulated and legal professionals recognize their potential to enhance efficiency. 💸 Our LegalTech #startups have attracted prominent investments lately, with LegalFly securing a remarkable €20 million in funding last year, and Henchman announcing their acquisition by LexisNexis, a US company. Here’s a non-exhaustive list of some of the top LegalTech players in the Belgian ecosystem. We may have missed some, so make sure to correct us in the comments section! ✨ KLEA | Afriwise | Nymus | lawbox.be | Ulegalize | ClauseBase | Lexigogo - Video Contracts & Video Proofs | Legacio | CuratedAI (Techstars '24)

Hebbia, an AI startup that helps businesses analyse all types of data to answer more complex, multi-step questions, raised a $130 million Series B from a handful of big-name investors. The new round was led by Andreessen Horowitz and included participation from Index Ventures, GV (Google Ventures) and Peter Thiel. The round — which initially was reported late last month — values the company at approximately $700 million, per Bloomberg. “There have been seven major technological revolutions in human history: fire, agriculture, the wheel, repeatable manufacturing, electricity, the internet and AI,” wrote George Sivulka, Hebbia’s Founder and CEO, in a blog. “AI is undoubtedly the most important technology of our lives. But technology doesn’t drive revolutions — products do. Hebbia is building the human layer — the product layer — to AI.” https://lnkd.in/eFx95Dh2 #LegalTech #Legal #Law #Funding

🤝 We are excited to welcome Corpora and its CEO and Co-Founder, Stepan Khzrtian, to #TLTFSummit2023! Corpora’s innovative platform revolutionizes how startups handle legal matters, guiding them seamlessly from formation to fundraising. Receive precise and actionable insights from your AI Assistant. Utilize over 30 verified templates to kickstart your document creation. Ensure your legal documents are well-organized, accurate, and comprehensive for investment readiness. 📄 Hear from them among the many startup companies joining us at #TLTFSummit2023. See more about these companies here: https://ow.ly/NBnL50Q9hzw #tltfsummit #legal #legaltech #legalinnovation #legalindustry #legalconference #lawtech

5/10 of the LegalTech startups to watch in Europe are UK based, according to investors and reported by Sifted today. Even better.... 1 of those 5 is Orbital Witness! As the article reports, LegalTech investment has outperformed many other tech sectors this year - no doubt buoyed by the rapid raise of AI 🤖 Having been part of the world of LegalTech for a while, I'm always happy to see LegalTech get this recognition. So much more to come from this sector 🚀 #legaltech #lawtech

If you have ever taken the plunge to start working for a start-up, you'll know it's a bit of a life-defining, never mind a heart-racing, moment. Last year, it was doubly so for me, as I effectively started with two on the same day - IntuiCell, a Swedish AGI start-up as their Head of IP and also at Two IP - Patent & Trade Mark Attorneys, a full-service patent attorney firm, where I'm a UK and European Patent Attorney Consultant (and a Unified Patent Court representative). Fortunately my career choice was completely understood and supported by my patient and generally amazing husband David Brinck (a fantastic patent attorney at EIP btw who also works with lots of AI technology), by my family and by my friends (although most have known for years I'm prone to being OTT and are now rarely phased by what I get up to). Anyway, a year has nearly passed since I took the plunge, and I'm so pleased that both Two-IP and IntuiCell have gone from strength to strength. Two-IP has recently grown with some amazing new attorneys joining (Timothy Powell and more recently Neil Kilpatrick). It was also great today to learn that, despite IntuiCell still being publicly pretty dark grey on its tech, it is gaining more and more recognition within the investor community as a Nordic start-up to watch - see our mention here in Sifted - https://lnkd.in/eRSwE_Ts. Whilst we are still fading only slowly to a paler shade of grey, do follow us or stay tuned here if you want to see some pretty really cool things on the AGI front shared hopefully later this year. Also, do look out for me at Two-IP if you need any patent or design work or for a chat if you are interested in joining. Two-IP have a way of handling IP work and fostering client-attorney relationships that's really great for clients and attorneys alike. #AGI #AI #ML #startups #IP #patents #patentattorneys #balancingworklife

VCs Bet Big on Legal Tech's Future As someone working in legaltech, I'm excited about the growing interest of VCs in the sector. With VC Funding still coming in in just first 2 months of 2024 with some major funding pouring in for Robin AI, Spellbook, Proof and Simply Bail. Reasons for the VC love affair: 1.      Untapped potential: The legal industry is ripe for disruption. Traditional practices are inefficient and costly, creating a massive demand for innovation. 2.      Pandemic push: COVID-19 accelerated tech adoption, demonstrating the value of cloud-based solutions and automation in legal services. 3.      Maturing tech: Legal tech startups are showing increasing sophistication and clear value propositions, making them attractive investments. VCs with big bets, big wins: ·  Accel: Invested in Ironclad, a contract management platform in Series A round and the Company is now valued at $3.2 Billion Valuation as per its 2022 funding round. ·   Institutional Investor which funded LegalZoom, the online legal services giant, made big bucks when the company went public in 2021 at was valued at over $7.5 billion as shares soared as much as 38% at the IPO. Challenges faced by Legal Tech companies due to VC funding model: ·  Short-term focus: VC pressure for rapid growth and exits can clash with the long-term nature of building a legal brand and client trust. ·  Unrealistic expectations: VCs may underestimate the regulatory hurdles and complexities of the legal industry. ·   Talent acquisition: Attracting and retaining top legal talent can be challenging in a competitive market fueled by VC funding. Benefits for legal tech companies receiving funding: ·      Scalability: Funding fuels expansion and product development, reaching more clients and solving bigger problems. ·      Market validation: VC backing lends credibility and attracts top talent, giving companies a competitive edge. ·      Innovation: Funding allows for experimentation and cutting-edge solutions, shaping the future of legal services. The future of legal tech is bright. With continued VC interest, we can expect even greater innovation, accessibility, and efficiency in the legal industry. But remember, smart growth and long-term vision are crucial for legal tech companies to navigate the VC landscape and truly transform the way the world experiences law. #legaltech #venturecapital #legalinnovation