South African legal-tech startups Legal Lens and BriefCo have secured funding from local VC firm Imvelo Ventures in a cash for future equity agreement to help them scale.
Founded and owned by Catherine Paulse, Yusha Davidson and two silent co-founders, Legal Lens and BriefCo were originally two separate companies but have now been pulled together as part of Cycad Group, a new entity in which Imvelo Ventures has invested.
Legal Lens is a legal spend management company leveraging natural language processing and machine learning to regulate legal expenditure and mitigate excessive legal fees, while BriefCo is a legal cost consultancy that leverages technology.
As part of Cycad Group, and with the undisclosed amount of funding from Imvelo, a VC firm founded by Capitec Bank and Empowerment Capital Investment Partners, the two platforms now plan to scale operations.
“We’re looking for South African businesses developing unique tech solutions for South African problems. With a combination of long-term patient growth capital, mentorship and access to market, we aim to assist their growth locally with our corporate partners and later beyond Africa, internationally. A combination of commercial potential and social impact is a critical element we look for,” said Anton Baumann, executive director at Empowerment Capital and Imvelo Ventures.
