Company empowers lawyers by providing instant access to their firm’s collective institutional knowledge and data, improving efficiency at every stage of the contract process

‍

NEW YORK, March 14, 2024 — DraftWise, an AI-powered contract and negotiation platform for lawyers, today announced a $20 million Series A funding round led by Index Ventures, with additional support from existing investors Y Combinator and Earlybird Digital East Ventures. The new financing will allow DraftWise to further strengthen and expand its industry-leading Contract Intelligence platform, which uses generative AI to help firms create higher-quality contracts in less time by empowering every lawyer with instant access to the firm’s collective institutional knowledge and data. The platform is recognized as an essential asset by top law firms in North America, Europe, and Australia, with customers hailing it as a mission-critical tool that elevates every part of the contract and negotiation process.

‍

DraftWise’s customers, which include thousands of lawyers at Vault 10, AM Law 100, Magic Circle, and Seven Sisters firms, use the platform every day to access historical and institutional knowledge, such as decades of deal history, market trends, and client and counterparty-favored terms, that helps them make more informed decisions when drafting and negotiating contracts, leading to better outcomes for their clients. DraftWise enables associates to easily and securely access their firm’s cumulative knowledge and data directly in the documents they’re already working in, enabling them to produce higher-quality work on their own. This reduces the risk of small errors that can have outsized operational and financial costs and frees up partners, who might otherwise spend time correcting associate work, to focus on providing the best service for clients.

‍

"We've piloted several generative AI solutions and Draftwise really stands out,” says Wendy Curtis, Chief Innovation Officer at Orrick. "The tools saves our deal teams hundreds of hours by enabling them to tap data and spot trends with incredible speed and accuracy. Our lawyers give it high marks for value and ease of use, and it’s quickly become a great use case for genAI technology in our practice."

‍

DraftWise’s founding team pairs world-class AI and engineering capabilities with deep industry expertise, including an intimate understanding of the large and small challenges lawyers face daily. Former Palantir engineering leaders James Ding and Emre Ozen teamed up with Ozan Yalti, a Stanford Law graduate who has practiced at top global firms like Clifford Chance, to found the company in 2020. They recognized that contracts are inherently data-rich. Law firms sit on mountains of data—decades of deal history, market trends, and client and counterparty-favored terms. DraftWise helps law firms harness the power of their data, allowing them to work more efficiently and effectively by enabling lawyers to access their firm's collective knowledge and historical work in a matter of seconds.

‍

“Contracts are the lifeblood of the legal profession, yet their potential has been constrained by the risk of human error and limited access to data at the time of drafting," said James Ding, Co-Founder of DraftWise. "Our technology not only streamlines these processes, but it arms the lawyer with their firm's best language and institutional data, elevating the quality of work product and allowing lawyers to focus on what they do best - advocating for their clients."

‍

Headquartered in New York City, DraftWise is a growing global team with employees in major cities and countries around the world. The Series A financing will support continued investment in engineering, product, and customer expertise, along with strategic investment in growth aimed at expanding the company’s reach and helping it fulfill its promise to customers.

‍

"The DraftWise team has the perfect complement of AI expertise, legal experience, and customer-obsession that are necessary to build a tool that will be widely adopted and used by lawyers in their day-to-day tasks,” said Martin Mignot, Partner at Index Ventures. “The feedback we heard from their early customers has been outstanding and we are excited to partner with them to help them reach out to more customers and continue to expand their product into a full-fledged intelligence platform used across the legal industry."

‍

‍

About DraftWise 

DraftWise is on a mission to transform the legal industry by harnessing the power of AI. With AI-powered drafting and negotiation software, DraftWise arms lawyers with data-driven intelligence that drastically improves the complete contract workflow, from first draft to client win. 

‍

A global team with headquarters in New York City, DraftWise’s customers include leading firms across North America, Europe, and Australia, including Orrick, Gunderson Dettmer LLP, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP, and Mishcon de Reya LLP, and other Vault 10, AM Law 100, Magic Circle, and Seven Sisters ranked firms.

‍