Nnamdi Emelifeonwu was all the time interested in what work life was like for his colleague Feargus MacDaeid, one of many few registered blind legal professionals within the U.Ok. Both practiced regulation on the international agency Freshfields.
When asking about what would make his life simpler, the reply was clear: “Help me navigate definitions in advanced contracts with out dropping context,” Emelifeonwu advised TechCrunch. He realized the repair to MacDaeid’s request can be helpful to each lawyer.
So in 2017, Emelifeonwu and MacDaeid teamed as much as launch Definely, an AI authorized tech startup permitting legal professionals to extra seamlessly evaluate and edit advanced contracts.
The firm, primarily based within the U.Ok., introduced earlier this week a $30 million Series B from a mixture of European and North American buyers, together with Revaia, Alumni Ventures, and Beacon Capital. It had beforehand raised a $7 million Series A final May.
Definely gives a productiveness suite to streamline the authorized drafting and evaluate course of. It has a Draft characteristic that lets legal professionals learn contracts and navigate definitions and clauses with out dropping their place within the doc; it has a Vault, that lets customers insert clauses with a single click on; it has a Proof characteristic, which makes use of AI to test for inconsistencies and damaged cross-references, and it has a PDF characteristic that lets customers extract and analyze factors from scanned authorized paperwork.
“Looking forward, we’re constructing on these capabilities with an agentic AI system we lately launched referred to as Enhance,” Emelifeonwu stated, including that it has AI brokers that work with Microsoft Word. “These brokers collaborate to finish duties throughout drafting, reviewing, and proofreading, streamlining work for authorized professionals the place they already function.”
Emelifeonwu described the fundraising course of this time round as “arduous.”
“An in depth second [word] could be rewarding,” he stated.
The firm met this spherical’s lead investor, Revaia, by way of an introduction. The remainder of the buyers got here to the corporate immediately. “We didn’t attain out to 1 investor throughout Series B.”
The contemporary capital will likely be used to additional the corporate’s enlargement into the U.S., which now accounts for 30% of the corporate’s income, it says. It additionally hopes to additional put money into the AI area and rent extra workers.
Others working within the authorized contract area on this approach embrace the businesses Luminance, Robin AI, and ContractPodAi.
Emelifeonwu, a Nigerian immigrant within the U.Ok., stated he dreamed of being a lawyer since he was a child however as soon as he turned one, he was hit with the entrepreneurial spirit. “I’ve all the time had concepts, and I explored a number of, however when the correct thought got here alongside, one which tapped immediately into the challenges I skilled firsthand as a lawyer, I knew I needed to pursue it,” he continued.
He additionally understands the significance of such a giant spherical when Black founders don’t, statistically, account for a lot of the annual enterprise fundraising exercise.
“Having raised contemporary capital and constructing towards a really international enterprise, it’s each a private milestone and, I hope, a sign to others that it’s potential,” he stated. “I need this to encourage the following wave of builders who could not come from conventional paths however have simply as a lot potential to create lasting impression.”
