Legal start-up gets $50m boost

A Canada-based legaltech start-up has secured a US$50m investment from a global venture capital firm.

Kira Systems, which makes automated AI-powered contract review software, raised the money from Insight Venture Partners in exchange for a minority stake. Kira, which counts some of the world’s leading law firms as customers, said that this is its first outside capital raising.

“There is vast opportunity to improve contract review, enabling previously impossible levels of insight into the details of companies’ agreements,” said Noah Waisberg, co-founder and CEO of Kira Systems.

The series-A round allows Kira to more swiftly execute its long-term vision, Waisberg said.

“We will continue to improve our software and impress our growing customer base. Insight, as a thought leader in scaling software companies, is a fantastic partner for us in this journey,” he said.

Peter Sobiloff, Insight managing director, will join the Kira board. Insight senior associate Jonathan Rosenbaum has also been appointed as a board observer.

“Kira Systems’ performance as a bootstrapped business has been impressive,” Sobiloff said. “We don’t see many pure-play AI businesses with their traction, and this success has come from the fact that Kira is fundamentally changing how contracts are reviewed. This represents an opportunity to make a meaningful impact across their core market segments.”

Insight, based in New York City, has more than US$20bn in assets under management.