Steno – a tech-enabled provider of legal support services – announced the closing of a $15 million Series B funding round led by Left Lane Capital. And the company has raised a total of $38.5 million, including a Series A round completed in the fall of 2020 led by Trust Ventures.
Greg Hong, Dylan Ruga, and Dan Anderson co-founded Steno in 2018 with the goal of revolutionizing the legal support service industry by rebuilding the traditional court reporting agency model. And Steno’s flagship product DelayPay enables law firms to defer service costs until their case resolves, solving a long-standing cash flow problem for lawyers.
As part of its Series B fundraising, Steno also announces a strategic investment from Clio Ventures, which is the direct investment arm of Clio — the world’s largest legal technology platform servicing 150,000 legal professionals.
Steno built its momentum in light of the pandemic, which had catalyzed an industry-wide reckoning of its relationship to technology for legal proceedings. By going from 20 employees to over 100 in under a year, the company stood at the forefront of remote deposition technology with Steno Connect, which is a purpose-built video conferencing platform. Plus it has since expanded its offering to a suite of products designed to enable law firms and court reporters to focus on the work that matters most.
Over the past year, Steno launched its rapidly-growing concierge e-filing and service of process, a natural extension of the essential services law firms need on deferred-payment terms.
What the funding will be used for: The Series B funding round will allow Steno to continue growing its footprint in new markets across the country, develop adjacent service channels for its clients, and expand its tech team to pursue a mission of transforming the way legal support services are consumed.
KEY QUOTES:
“As a plaintiff attorney, I found myself in a spot where all of my working capital was tied up in case costs. I couldn’t grow my business, there were no court reporting agencies that would defer costs until my cases were settled, and securing litigation financing was resource-draining for my staff. I called Greg and Dan with the idea, and Steno took shape.”
— Dylan Ruga, Steno’s Co-Founder and a law firm owner himself
“We realized there was a real solution here to meaningfully improve the way lawyers can operate their firms by offering highly-reliable services underpinned by purpose-built technology and a financing layer. It was a massive opportunity to build a best-in-class service layer in this $17B traditionally analog market.”
“We’re thrilled to welcome Clio as a strategic partner during our 2023 expansion. Building an integration within Clio’s legal practice management platform enables shared customers to access all of their case activities in real-time, removing common administrative hurdles and freeing up valuable time for their clients.” The companies anticipate launching an integration later this year.”
— Greg Hong, Co-Founder and CEO
“Steno has found phenomenal product-market fit with its online legal services marketplace and DelayPay product. They are enabling law firms to take on more volume with greater efficiency, and the business is more than doubling market share year over year as a result.”
— Jason Fiedler, Managing Partner at Left Lane Capital
