LawVu Raises $17M NZD to Empower In-House Legal Teams

Transforming Legal Operations with LawVu

Internal legal departments are essential to corporate function, yet frequently lack the technological resources available to teams in areas like sales and finance. Traditionally, these teams have depended on methods such as email, shared inboxes, and spreadsheets for managing their workflows. LawVu offers a cloud-based solution designed to facilitate the sharing of legal guidance and documentation, enhance communication both internally and with external legal counsel, and generate comprehensive reports for company leadership, including the C-suite.

Series A Funding and Growth

The company, headquartered in Tauranga, New Zealand, recently announced the successful completion of a $17 million NZD (approximately $11.9 million USD) Series A funding round. This investment was spearheaded by Insight Partners, a venture capital firm recognized for its ScaleUp program supporting high-growth startups, with additional participation from existing investor AirTree Ventures.

Prior to this, LawVu secured seed funding of around $1.8 million USD, led by Shasta Ventures and AirTree, in May of the previous year.

Founding and Pandemic-Driven Adoption

Established in 2015, LawVu was founded by Tim Boyne, who brings over ten years of experience in IT and operations within law firms, and Sam Kidd, a specialist in SaaS project management. The platform’s architecture, designed for geographically dispersed teams and remote work arrangements, experienced a significant surge in adoption during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

LawVu’s annual recurring revenue tripled throughout 2020 and continues on a trajectory of growth. Currently serving users in 30 nations, the majority – approximately two-thirds – of its recurring revenue originates from the United States and Australia.

Client Base and Expansion Plans

LawVu’s client roster includes prominent organizations such as Telstra, AMP, Linktree, Expedia, PwC, and Instacart.

The company intends to recruit key leadership personnel in the U.S. to support its global market strategy and establish a physical presence with U.S. offices while simultaneously continuing the development of LawVu’s core technology.

Targeting In-House Legal Teams

LawVu caters to in-house legal teams of varying sizes, ranging from single-person departments to those exceeding 300 professionals. The most rapid growth in adoption is currently observed among teams comprised of five to 500 legal professionals.

The platform specifically addresses the needs of in-house legal departments, as opposed to traditional law firms, because “in-house counsel operate with fundamentally different priorities and goals compared to their counterparts in private practice. This distinction necessitates a unique set of technological requirements for in-house lawyers to effectively perform their duties,” Boyne explained.

Distinct Needs of In-House Counsel

Lawyers in private practice typically concentrate on discrete projects, billing clients based on time expended. Conversely, in-house legal professionals must balance “reactive work” – responding to requests from within the company – with “proactive work” – anticipating business needs and mitigating potential risks.

A Comprehensive Legal Workspace

LawVu’s cloud platform functions as a centralized “legal workspace,” integrating all the essential tools required by in-house legal teams. These capabilities include matter management (covering advice requests, contract execution, M&A transactions, and litigation), contract management, document control, e-billing, and the oversight of outsourced legal services.

Data-Driven Insights for the Business

For in-house legal departments, LawVu’s analytical features provide valuable insights to the broader organization by quantifying their contributions through metrics derived from data often dispersed across email inboxes or individual files, according to Boyne.

“Legal work is often obscured from view. Unlike many other sectors, the legal field is still in the early stages of leveraging data,” Boyne stated. He further elaborated, “as legal professionals transition their work into our workspace, all activities are captured as data. This empowers the legal function, for the first time, to assess demand, types of work, team capacity, future staffing requirements, the performance of external law firms, and even identify areas suitable for automation with other tools.”

Demonstrating Value and Securing Resources

Beyond enhancing productivity, LawVu assists in-house legal teams in demonstrating their value to key stakeholders. Boyne noted that legal departments are frequently perceived as cost centers, lacking direct contribution to profitability and often involved only at the conclusion of projects or decisions.

“As a company expands rapidly, the legal team can easily become overwhelmed, focusing solely on crisis management and lacking the capacity to provide strategic value. Without data to substantiate the value and work being performed, it becomes challenging to secure additional resources, whether in the form of technology or personnel,” Boyne said.

“The LawVu workspace enables them to optimize their services, access information readily, deliver results efficiently, measure and showcase their value, and ultimately become a valued member of the business leadership team.”

Board Appointment and Industry Recognition

Rachel Geller, Managing Director at Insight Partners, will be joining LawVu’s board of directors. In a formal statement, she commented, “LawVu’s global expansion is a testament to its potential and its ability to deliver significant value to legal teams. Its intuitive user experience and positive customer feedback distinguish LawVu within the legal technology landscape.”