Wordsmith raises $5 million to empower lawyers to scale themselves with AI – unlocking the ‘Pavarottis’ of the legal world

THE DETAILS

Wordsmith, the AI-powered legal assistant platform, has raised $5 million to transform the legal industry and unleash a new generation of hyper-skilled, bravura legal professionals – the ‘Pavarottis of the legal world’.

The seed funding was led by Index Ventures, with participation from General Catalyst and notable angel investors including Skyscanner founder Gareth Williams. The investment is a sign of how applied AI is rapidly augmenting and enabling professional services – a shift as profound as the transition to digital devices and word processing 40 years ago.

‘AI is not about replacing professionals. It's about making them better at their jobs,’ McNairn says. ‘Just as the word processor didn't replace writers, but instead made them more productive, Wordsmith is ushering in a new era of AI-assisted professional services.’

Wordsmith was founded in 2023 by McNairn, Volodymyr Giginiak and Robbie Falkenthal. After leaving the law, McNairn sold his first startup to Skyscanner in 2016 and most recently was Chief Product and Technology Officer at Travelperk. CTO Giginiak (‘Gigz’), one of the first engineers at Meta in London who worked for a decade in key roles at Facebook and Instagram, was helping to implement anti-drone technology for the Ukrainian army before joining Wordsmith. Robbie Falkenthal, COO, is a qualified lawyer who had previously worked at KPMG and as a senior operator at Travelperk.

McNairn comments: ‘In-house lawyers are under immense pressure, constantly being asked to do more with less. They're mired in repetitive work, reviewing countless contracts, answering the same questions over and over, and processing endless questionnaires. It can feel thankless, and leaves little time for the strategic, high-value work that moves the needle for business, and motivated them to become lawyers in the first place.’

Lawyer-in-the-loop AI to help in-house lawyers become enablers, not blockers

Wordsmith is solving for a critical problem faced by in-house legal teams: the overwhelming volume of routine tasks that leave lawyers struggling to keep up with the demands of the business. From confirming policy details to contract analysis and complex financing, the demand for human judgment and the consequences of oversight are high – yet many of the outputs are repeatable and templated. Wordsmith customers get 90% of the through-put of a world-class lawyer and a 99% cost reduction versus going to a law firm, all within 60 seconds.

Wordsmith’s proprietary ‘lawyer-in-the-loop’ AI technology works 10,000 times faster than humans – responding automatically or with review and approval of a member of the legal team, catering for legal tasks from across the business. It lets lawyers rapidly review agreements, draft complex answers based on their historical data and plugs directly into their current systems. The platform integrates knowledge from leading law firms which gives them a significant edge.

Along with cutting-edge generative models, Wordsmith’s rise speaks to the value of attending closely to the needs of the enterprise end-user. The company has distinguished itself for its A-grade security and privacy infrastructure – ensuring the confidential data that’s the stock-in-trade for lawyers is not used to train the company’s models, and that its storage and processing complies with exacting regulatory frameworks. Wordsmith also ‘meets lawyers where they are’ – embedding seamlessly into their existing tools and workflows.

Hannah Seal, the partner at Index Ventures who led the investment: ‘Wordsmith is at the vanguard of a fundamental shift in how professional services are delivered. It’s not about replacement but augmentation. By harnessing the power of generative AI, they're not only transforming the legal industry, but also paving the way for a future in which AI-assisted professionals can provide better, faster, and more affordable services to their clients.’

Wordsmith’s customers include fast-growing tech companies such as Trustpilot. The team have worked closely with DLA Piper on the design and training of custom AI agents that will help to deliver top tier legal knowledge and know-how.

The new funding signals the continued success and vibrancy of the Scottish tech ecosystem, which has nurtured the likes of Skyscanner and Freeagent. The capital will allow Wordsmith to accelerate hiring in Scotland and the US, as well as launch its core product to the wider market.