One of the main challenges for entrepreneurs on their startup journey has been to raise money. From trying to convince VCs to getting bank loans, securing finances has caused sleepless nights for countless business owners. But some startups are attempting to alleviate founders of the stress of raising money by offering alternative financing routes. Given SeedLegals has just closed a $4m series A round to automate the financing process for startups, it seems there’s certainly a demand for these services.
The legal tech startup’s latest round was led by VC firm Index Ventures along with early-stage investor Kima Ventures, The Family and existing investor Seedcamp. It will escalate SeedLegals’ global expansion.
Launched in 2017, SeedLegals now boasts of having had 7,000 startups signed up to its services. Furthermore, it claims, roughly 8% of all early-stage UK funding rounds are now done on the platform with an average of two to three funding rounds being closed each day. Using the platform have saved companies £4.5m in 2018 in unnecessary legal costs, it said. Furthermore, by using the platform, the average time and cost it takes for founders to complete a funding round is cut by about 80%.
Anthony Rose, co-founder and CEO at SeedLegals, said the platform has removed the “complexity, unnecessary middlemen, standardised and automated the processes and that has really resonated with both founders and investors.”
He added: “However, we believe fundraising is just the start. The same approach can be applied to many other legal processes through the journey of a business. The goal of SeedLegals is to empower all parties with data and a modern technology platform, letting them focus on building the business and serving their customers.”
Commenting on the new round, Hannah Seal from Index Ventures, said: “SeedLegals is making the complex process of fundraising straightforward for everyone involved. We closed this round on SeedLegals and have been impressed with the speed and ease of use. For startups who spend thousands on legal fees on agreements that vary little from company to company, this is an absolute no-brainer.”
Indeed, money is essential when scaling a startup. So it can only be beneficial to the UK startup ecosystem that companies like SeedLegals are aiming to make it easier to fill its coffers.
