Ex-Goodwin lawyers raise $3m seed round to automate fund formation

UK-based legal tech startup Intelligent Legal Solutions (ILS), founded by former Goodwin lawyers, has raised $3 million in seed funding led by Chicago Ventures.

The company was launched in 2024 by Fergus Plant and Jack McCarthy, who previously worked at firms including Goodwin and Proskauer, alongside software engineer Stefano Benigni.

The founders said the idea emerged from seeing how post-close fund workflows such as side letter tracking and MFN elections - where investors can opt into more favourable terms granted to other investors - were still largely managed through manual processes.

“We are thrilled to partner with Chicago Ventures, whose deep expertise assisting companies like ours to empower traditional businesses with technology will allow us to take our already substantial growth to another level,” said Plant.

Targeting funds

The company’s platform is designed to help private funds lawyers manage side letters and MFN elections within a single system, turning negotiated terms into structured and searchable obligations while generating election forms that track investor choices.

The software is intended to reduce the reliance on email and spreadsheets that still underpin much of the operational work around fund formation matters.

The raise follows a growing wave of legal tech startups founded by former Big Law lawyers, including ex-Kirkland & Ellis funds associate Amr Jomaa’s platform Navys, which also targets the funds market.

Law firm adoption

According to the company, the system processed more than 5,000 side letters across over 450 matters in 2025, supporting more than $150 billion in fundraises across the US, UK, EU, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Middle East.

The platform is used by law firms including Cleary, Fried Frank, Goodwin, Paul Weiss, Proskauer, Ropes & Gray and Willkie.

Growth plans

Chicago Ventures partner Eric Duboe said the company aims to build a broader workflow platform for private funds lawyers.

“ILS is building the workflow system for private funds lawyers, starting with MFN and side-letter automation and expanding into a unified platform for fund formation teams,” he said.

The new funding will support further development of the platform and an expanded product roadmap for 2026, the company said.