LawVu: New Zealand-Based Legal Workspace Company Closes $15 Million NZD

By Amit Chowdhry • Sep 23, 2023

LawVu – a New Zealand-based category-defining legal workspace for in-house legal teams around the globe – recently announced it has completed a  $15 million NZD investment from Movac in its latest funding round. This funding round will drive LawVu’s rapid expansion to meet growing international demand — especially across Australia, the US, and the UK — and solidify LawVu’s position as a category leader in a legal tech market expected to be valued at over $40 billion by 2030. 

The additional funds will also accelerate the startup’s research and development (R&D) in the artificial intelligence (AI) space, helping LawVu leverage its AI-powered features to optimize operations, enhance collaboration, and drive efficiency for in-house legal professionals. 

LawVu’s 2023 In-house Legal Technology Report revealed that 61% of in-house legal teams spend over one hour per day jumping between systems to gain a complete view of work and determine priorities, highlighting the need for consolidated technology stacks built especially for legal teams.

LawVu also recently gained global market recognition, debuting as a major player in the IDC MarketScape’s Worldwide Enterprise Legal Management (ELM) Software 2023 Vendor Assessment. And this accolade comes off the heels of hiring David Lancelot as Chief Legal Officer, who brings with him over 20 years of experience building, leading, and transforming legal functions internationally across various industries, including Magex.com, QVC UK, and eBay Classifieds. 

Based in Tauranga, LawVu is committed to being based in New Zealand — despite 93% of its revenue being generated offshore. About 65% of LawVu’s 125+ employees are based in New Zealand, and the startup recently invested in Wellington offices as part of its national growth strategy to attract and hire Kiwi talent. 

LawVu’s total funding is about $55 million NZD, with existing investors AirTree Ventures and Insight Partners participating in previous funding rounds. And the company’s customer base across 15 countries includes household names such as PWC, Telstra, Estee Lauder, and Linktree. 

KEY QUOTES:

“LawVu was born out of a critical gap in the industry where organizations’ legal functions worked across fragmented systems like email and word documents. Our legal workspace solves this by consolidating their work in one place. The strong customer appetite we’ve received for our unique offering validates the untapped opportunity in the global market — to help superpower every in-house legal team around the world.”

“We’ve been relentless in extending our international foothold despite the economic headwinds. Having Movac come on board with their support signals immense confidence in our mission as we accelerate our global expansion.” 

— Sam Kidd, CEO and co-founder of LawVu

“LawVu has continued to go from strength to strength, with incredible potential for growth and disruption in the legal sector and its traditional way of working. Our depth of experience investing in iconic Kiwi startups such as Vertical SaaS stars Vend, Timely and Unleashed meant we knew LawVu was a natural fit within our Growth Fund portfolio. We look forward to our partnership with Sam and the team as they continue to pave the way as a global category leader, representing New Zealand on the world stage.” 

— Jason Graham, General Partner at Movac