Nnamdi Emelifeonwu has always been interested in what work life was like for his colleague Feargus MacDaeid, one of the few registered blind lawyers in the UK.
When asked what would make his life easier, the answer was clear: “Please help me navigate the definition of complex contracts without losing context,” Emelifeonwu told TechCrunch. He found that amendments to MacDaeid’s request would be useful for all lawyers.
So in 2017, Emelifeonwu and MacDaeid were AI Legal Tech startups, working together to ensure that lawyers could review and edit complex contracts more seamlessly.
The UK-based company announced a $30 million Series B earlier this week from a mix of European and North American investors such as Revaia, Alumni Ventures and Beacon Capital. Last May, they raised a $7 million Series A.
It certainly offers a productivity suite to streamline your legal drafting and review process. This includes a draft feature that allows lawyers to read contracts and navigate definitions and clauses without losing their place in the document. There is a vault, and users can insert clauses with just one click. It has a proof feature that uses AI to check for inconsistencies and cross references broken, and a PDF feature that allows users to extract and analyze points from scanned legal documents.
“Now, based on these features, it’s built on an agent AI system called Enhance, which we recently launched,” Emelifeonwu said, adding that there are AI agents that run on Microsoft Word. “These agents complete tasks throughout drafts, reviews and calibrations and work together to streamline the work for legal professionals who are already operating.”
Emelifeonwu described the fundraising process as “harsh.”
“Seconds (words) can be rewarding,” he said.
The company met Revaia, the lead investor in this round through referrals. The remaining investors came directly to the company. “We didn’t reach out to one investor during Series B.”
Fresh capital is used to promote the company’s expansion into the US. This currently accounts for 30% of the company’s revenue. They also hope to invest more in the AI space and hire more employees.
Others working in the legal contract space in this way include corporate shine, Robin AI, and Contract Poda.
Emeryfenwu, a Nigerian immigrant in the UK, said that he had dreamed of becoming a lawyer since he was a child, but after he was left alone, he was hit by entrepreneurship. “I’ve always had ideas, but I explored some, but when the right idea came, when I tapped directly on the assignment I had experienced firsthand as a lawyer, I knew I had to pursue it,” he continued.
He also understands the importance of such a large round when black founders do not statistically explain much of their annual venture fundraising activity.
“I hope that sourcing a fresh capital and building it for a truly global business is a personal milestone and signaling that it is possible to others,” he said. “I hope this will stimulate the next wave of builders that may not come from traditional paths, but that can create lasting impacts.”