Lawhive, a legal tech startup that has built a large language model-powered “AI lawyer”, has raised £9.5m.
Founded in 2021, Lawhive has built a platform for lawyers, described by the company as “Shopify for Law”, to complete time-consuming tasks for clients.
The London-headquartered company said its AI tools automate repetitive admin tasks such as client onboarding and document collection.
Furthermore, the Lawhive marketplace can be used to match lawyers with consumers and small businesses.
“Access to the law should be a basic right, available to everyone. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case,” said Lawhive co-founder and CEO Pierre Proner.
“Our vision is to combine AI and best-in-class lawyers to reduce the time and cost of providing high-quality legal support, increasing access for millions of people who need it.”
The startup said at the centre of its platform is an “AI lawyer”. Developed from Lawhive’s own large language model (LLM), the company claims this AI lawyer – referred to as Lawrence – successfully passed the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) with a score of 81%.
Lawhive described Lawrence’s work as akin to a junior lawyer or paralegal.
Proner said the startup’s technology “isn’t about AI replacing humans” but rather freeing up the time of human lawyers by doing the work they “don’t want to do and are wasting their valuable time doing”.
The legal sector has been considered a prime candidate for AI disruption, with several companies focusing on applying the technology to reduce the burden of admin tasks.
Other UK startups using AI to automate legal work include Luminance, which this month raised £31.8m, and Robin AI, which raised £20.6m in January.
Lawhive’s new funding round was led by GV and included participation from Episode 1 Ventures.
“Lawhive represents a transformative shift for both lawyers and consumers,” said GV partner Vidu Shanmugarajah.
“Through combining a feature-rich platform with groundbreaking AI, Lawhive not only dramatically improves legal workflows but also makes high-quality legal advice more accessible and affordable to a broader audience.”
The investment follows a £1.5m funding round for the startup secured in April 2022.
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