Legal AI startup Wordsmith lands $70m Series B

Legal AI startup Wordsmith has raised a $70 million Series B funding round as it looks to capitalise on growing demand from corporate legal teams seeking to bring more work in-house and reduce spend on outside counsel.

The round was backed by Highland Europe and Index Ventures, and the Edinburgh-founded company says its platform is now used by more than 500 organisations, including BT, the Financial Times, Canva, and Trip.com.

Wordsmith said it will use the funding to accelerate product development, “double down” on the US market and grow its workforce to around 300 employees globally by the end of the year.

Built for in-house

While many legal AI tools focus on drafting, research and productivity gains for individual lawyers, particularly private practice lawyers, Wordsmith is clear that its focus is on in-house legal teams.

“Legal does not need another filing cabinet, and it does not need another copilot that simply helps one lawyer work faster,” said chief executive and co-founder Ross McNairn.

“Wordsmith is the front door that does the work. Requests come in, AI agents process the routine, lawyers approve what needs judgment, and every step is recorded as it happens.”

The platform is designed to manage requests from email, Slack, Microsoft Teams and Salesforce all in one place, where AI agents can process routine tasks and escalate higher-risk matters to lawyers when “real risk or judgment is required”.

Vertical approach

Jean Tardy-Joubert, partner at Highland Europe, said Wordsmith had established itself at the forefront of the emerging category through its focus on in-house teams.

“By taking a vertical approach, Ross and the Wordsmith team have established themselves at the forefront of the sector, with demonstrable market traction,” he said.

For more on Wordsmith, listen to our Non-Billable podcast episode with chief executive Ross McNairn following the company’s Series A last year.