UK legal tech funding hits record £116m in first half of 2025

Investment in UK legal tech reached a new high in the first half of the year, with a total of £116.6 million raised by 27 startups between January and June, according to new figures from government-backed body LawtechUK.

The H1 figure represents 83% of the total investment amount for all of 2024 (£139.6 million), and puts the sector on course for a record year if the current pace continues.

Average deal value hit £4.3 million in the period, while the number of UK-founded legal tech companies on LawtechUK’s radar climbed from 270 to 295.

Notable deals

Contract-focused platforms led the charge in H1 2025. Edinburgh-based Wordsmith, which streamlines in-house workflows, raised £18 million in a Series A funding round in June, saying it had become the fastest company in Scottish history to reach a $100 million valuation.

In the same month, ex-Freshfields-led contract review platform Definely raised £22 million in a Series B round. Both Wordsmith and Definely were selected for the prestigious Future Fifty tech accelerator programme in September.

Meanwhile, contract review platform Luminance, which is led by ex-Darktrace director Eleanor Lightbody, raised £60 million in a Series C round back in February.

Listen to our conversation with Wordsmith co-founder Ross McNairn on The Non-Billable Podcast where he explains how Wordsmith is turning legal from a blocker into a revenue driver for large companies.

Bigger picture

Investor enthusiasm for the sector has continued into the latter half of the year. Litigation tech company Wexler, which is already used by the likes of Clifford Chance, Goodwin and HSF Kramer, raised $5 million in seed funding last month, in one of the sector’s largest early-stage rounds this year.

The picture has been just as rosy across the rest of Europe this year with a number of European-founded legal tech companies raising significant rounds. In recent weeks, Milan-based Lexroom announced a $19 million raise, while legal AI frontrunner Legora is reportedly looking to land more than $100 million at a $1.7 billion valuation.