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Legal tech is undergoing an AI revolution. Here are the 15 startups that have raised the most funding from VCs like a16z and Menlo Ventures.

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Legal tech is booming thanks to advancements in generative artificial intelligence.
Business Insider compiled a list of 15 legal tech startups that have raised the most from VCs.
The startups range from contract management to serving legal documents.

Legal tech is having a moment in the spotlight, thanks in part to advancements in artificial intelligence.

While the sector has long been booming as lawyers seek out tools to outsource the more tedious parts of their job — including accounting, annotating documents, and drafting contracts — investments in the space slowed in 2023 to a six-year low as part of a broader pullback of VC funding amid economic insecurity, according to Crunchbase data.

While funding remains muted compared to record highs in 2021 and 2022, some legal tech startups are succeeding in raising new funding rounds even as their startup peers in other industries struggle — provided they showcase how generative AI is a core part of their business offering.

Robin AI, which uses generative AI to help lawyers draft and negotiate contracts; Superlegal, which has built AI that’s actually licensed to practice law; and Definely, a London-based startup that lends its AI tools to contract drafting and review, have all raised fresh VC funding in recent months.

Business Insider has identified 15 legal tech startups that have raised the most funding from investors, via an analysis of PitchBook data.

Some companies on our list are incumbents, like Clio, Rocket Lawyer, and Everlaw, which were founded in 2008, 2006, and 2010, respectively.

Other startups on the list were founded within the last few years and have quickly become VC darlings, including Harvey, which offers a suite of generative AI legal products and raised a $100 million Series C funding round in July.

While the startups on Business Insider’s list are different in terms of what types of lawyers they serve and what tasks they help complete, every company is now using AI to further its business goals and win customers.

We organized our list based on the total amount of VC funding each startup has received.

Clio

Year founded: 2008

HQ: Barnaby, Canada

Most recent funding round: $900 million Series F funding round in July 2024

Total fundraising: $1.2 billion, according to the company

Notable Investors: OMERS Growth Equity, New Enterprise Associates, BlackRock, CapitalG

How it’s using AI: Clio, which provides cloud-based law firm management software, launched an AI-powered partner last year to summarize documents and generate bills.

Icertis

Samir Bodas is CEO of Icertis.

Icertis

Year founded: 2009

HQ: Bellevue, Washington

Most recent funding round: $80 million Series F in March 2021

Total fundraising: $481.5 million, according to PitchBook

Notable Investors: B Capital Group, Ignition Partners, Greycroft

How it’s using AI: Icertis built a contract management program and offers various AI tools for users to pull and analyze data.

Ironclad

Year founded: 2014

HQ: San Francisco

Most recent funding round: $150 million Series E funding round in January 2022

Total VC fundraising: $333 million, according to the company

Notable Investors: Sequoia, Accel, Franklin Templeton, BOND, Emergence Capital

How it’s using AI: Ironclad provides AI-powered contract review and offers editing as well as data analysis and visualizations.

Rocket Lawyer

Year founded: 2006

HQ: San Francisco

Most recent funding round: $223 million Series E in April 2021

Total VC fundraising: $328 million, according to PitchBook

Notable Investors: GV, Wasabi Ventures, LexisNexis Group

How it’s using AI: Rocket Lawyer provides individuals, families, and small businesses with tools to incorporate a business, create estate plans, and review legal documents. The company uses conversational AI to help individuals navigate legal filings and keep costs down.

Everlaw

Year founded: 2010

HQ: Oakland, California

Most recent funding round: $202 million Series D in November 2021

Total VC fundraising: $298.6, according to the company

Notable Investors: Andreessen Horowitz, CapitalG, HIG Growth Partners, K9 Ventures, Menlo Ventures

How it’s using AI: Everlaw’s cloud-based e-discovery platform helps legal teams collaborate and discover information, and it offers an AI assistant that combs through data and builds legal arguments.

FileVine

Year founded: 2015

HQ: Salt Lake City, Utah

Most recent funding round: $116 Series D in April 2022

Total VC fundraising: $258 million, according to PitchBook

Notable Investors: Meritech Capital Partners, Album VC, Signal Peak Ventures

How it’s using AI: FileVine, which helps lawyers manage cases from intake to billing, uses AI to analyze legal documents.

Ontra

Year founded: 2014

HQ: Concord, California

Most recent funding round: $200 million Series B in October 2021

Total VC fundraising: $240 million, according to PitchBook

Notable Investors: Blackstone, Battery Ventures

How it’s using AI: Ontra provides AI-powered contract automation and insights for private markets.

Harvey

Year founded: 2022

HQ: San Francisco

Most recent funding round: $100 million Series C in July 2024

Total VC fundraising: More than $200 million, according to the company

Notable Investors: Google Ventures, Open AI, Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia Capital, SV Angel, Elad Gil

How it’s using AI: Harvey offers multiple generative AI products for lawyers, including tools for research and governance.

ContractPodAI

Year founded: 2012

HQ: London

Most recent funding round: $115 Series C in September 2021

Total VC fundraising: $173 million, according to PitchBook

Notable Investors: SoftBank, Dittes Ventures, Insight Partners

How it’s using AI: ContractPodAI uses AI for contract management and offers a generative AI tool called Leah to automate some legal projects and tasks.

LinkSquares

Year founded: 2015

HQ: Boston

Most recent funding round: $100M Series C in April 2022

Total VC fundraising: $161 million, according to the company

Notable Investors: G Squared, G2 Venture Partners, Sorenson Capital, Catalyst Investors, Jump Capital, First Ascent Ventures, Hyperplane Venture Capital, MassMutual Ventures, Myriad Venture Partners, Bottomline Technologies

How it’s using AI: LinkSquares brings AI to in-house legal teams on order to search and analyze contracts; assist with negotiations, and manage a company’s entire legal department.

Hebbia

Year founded: 2020

HQ: New York

Most recent funding round: $130 million Series B in July 2024

Total VC fundraising: $160 million, according to the company

Notable Investors: Peter Thiel, a16z, Google Ventures, Index Ventures

How it’s using AI: Hebbia deploys AI agents that can complete due diligence, review regulatory filings, negotiate M&A deals, and other legal tasks, along with tools for finance, real estate, and other industries.

Evisort

Year founded: 2016

HQ: San Francisco

Most recent funding round: $100 million Series C in May 2022

Total VC fundraising: $154 million, according to PitchBook

Notable Investors: Amity Ventures, G Ventures, TCV

How it’s using AI: Evisort built the first large language model (LLM) specifically for contracts and offers an AI-powered contract management program.

LegalOn Technologies

LegalOn US CEO, Daniel Lewis and Group CEO, Nozomu Tsunoda

LegalOn

Year founded: 2017

HQ: Tokyo and San Francisco

Most recent funding round: $101 million Series D funding round in June 2022

Total VC fundraising: $132 million, according to the company

Notable Investors: Softbank Vision Fund 2, Sequoia China, Goldman Sachs

How it’s using AI: LegalOn uses AI to review and negotiate contracts.

Steno

Year founded: 2018

HQ: Los Angeles

Most recent funding round: $15 million Series B in May 2023

Total VC fundraising: $114 million, according to the company

Notable Investors: First Round Capital, The Legal Tech Fund, Clio, Rivonia Road Capital, Trinity Capital

How it’s using AI: Steno, which offers tech for court reporting and litigation support, has an AI-powered transcription service that can analyze testimony and provide insights and summaries.

Proof

Year founded: 2015

HQ: Boston

Most recent funding round: $30 million Series B in February 2024

Total VC fundraising: $42 million, according to PitchBook

Notable Investors: Clio, Forward VC, The Legal Tech Fund

How it’s using AI: Proof digitizes the process of serving legal documents, and the startup uses AI to collect data and manage informations about lawsuits and court cases.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Legal tech is undergoing an AI revolution. Here are the 15 startups that have raised the most funding from VCs like a16z and Menlo Ventures.

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