Last update: March 17, 2017
You may have missed it but June 2016 broke the single month record set this February with 44 legal startups registering on AngelList. Wait, there is more…
**Update Sep, 2: Psst, in August we broke 56 **
Last year, I was curious to know how many legal ventures were seeking fame and fortune from the angels. In December, I wanted to know what types of legal operations would deliver us from hell. This June, I still noticed quite a few law firms masquerading but I’m expecting more startups to be aiming for the heavens. So I was pleasantly surprised by the June numbers. More so seeing May and June are historically not known for its highs.
[chart id=”712″]
June 2016 did not only break the record but we may have reached a tipping point: It can very well be the first time more startups registered from outside the US on AngelList.
[chart id=”3200″]
Where do Legal Startups come from?
I first suspected Canada but a closer look revealed India making quite a surge. However, if we break it down in continents, the western hemisphere, specifically the Americas, still outweighs the rest…with a little help from South America.
[chart id=”3207″]
Where to track more Legal Startups?
Recently, there has also been a flurry of legal startup trackers. Here’s a list of communities and enthusiast chasing startups:
- Legal & Legal Tech on Angellist;
- CB Insights – Roundup on funding of legal startups;
- Lawhackers.co – One the oldest legal startup trackers;
- Tech.law.stanford.edu – Recent listing by Stanford Law with over 550 vetted startups;
- Legal Tech – Mapping Disruption – Medium post listing investments in legal startups;
- Germany – An overview of German Legal Tech;
- Canada – listing of Canadian legal startups, located in Toronto;
- Spain – LegalTech startups mapped out in Spain;
- Dutch Legal Tech – Annual awards for best Legal Tech in the Netherlands;
- Y-Combinator – list of Legal Startups in Y-Combinator;
- Robert J. Ambrogi list – passionate attempt by a true legalpoineer;
- Australia – Overview of Australian Legal Tech;
- Legalpioneer – Global twitter community dedicated to finding pioneers in legal everywhere;
- Legal Startup Charts – Tracking how many legal startups register each month on Angellist;
- Legal Tech Hunt – an Epic collection of law & tax apps inc. Blockchain on Product Hunt.
I’m a member of the Legalpioneer community and since I couldn’t find similar listings, I created the last 2 Charts and Hunt lists. In doing so I realized that it’s particularly challenging to tag and categorize legal startups. Stanford and ‘Legal Tech – Mapping Disruption’ both have about 8 categories but differ on topics e.g. only eDiscovery, Research and Practice Management appear in both. In 2013, a Quora member listed 11 submarkets in the legal space but this was before the AI and Machine Learning era. Same goes for tagging: Stanford has 237 tags and Lawhackers around 69 after de-duplication. In short, we are in the midst of figuring out the Fog of Apps and after the dust has settled, we’ll know who solved the real pains.
Meanwhile, it’s great to see that we’re back on track in making this a summer to remember.
**Update Mar, 17 ’17: Fixed Australia tracker **
**Update Feb, 13 ’17: Germany and Australia tracker **
**Update Dec, 20: Robert J. Ambrogi**
**Updated Dec, 7: Y-combinator**
**Updated Aug, 5: Added Spain tracker**
**Updated Jul, 18: Canada & CB Insights as trackers**