Paris-based LegalTech startup Jus Mundi raises $10 million to give lawyers access to AI-powered search engine for international law and arbitration

Finding legal information and professionals in the United States is very hard and challenging, let alone finding legal resources and information worldwide. For most lawyers, looking for legal materials about international laws and arbitration requires going to a worldwide portal of libraries. This process is cumbersome and time-consuming. Now, one startup is on a mission to change that.

Jus Mundi is a Paris, France-based legal tech startup that is democratizing access to all legal resources thanks to a search engine that combines international legal expertise with artificial intelligence. Jus Mundi’s search engine gives lawyers involved in international arbitration access to international legal and other global resources with unparalleled efficiency. To date, thousands of legal professionals from over 190 countries use Jus Mundi’s AI-powered technology to deliver thorough legal research and monitor the latest legal information from all over the world.

Today, Jus Mundi announced it has raised $10 million Series A funding round of funding led by C4 Ventures, a European Venture Capital fund created by Pascal Cagni, formerly head of Apple Europe from 2000 to 2012. Jus Mundi will use the fresh capital infusion to develop the artificial intelligence (AI) integrated into its search engine, which enables lawyers representing multinational companies to rapidly and accurately research and identify relevant jurisprudence and suitable arbitrators.

Founded in 2018 by Jean-Rémi de Maistre, Aurélien Duval, Thomas Latterner, and Valentin Brondel, Jus Mundi is a search engine that helps lawyers dealing with complex international arbitration cases gather vital information (treaties, awards, jurisprudence, etc.) quickly and efficiently.

One of the key sources of information comes from the partnerships Jus Mundi has formed with global organizations including the International Chamber of Commerce and the International Bar Association. Jus Mundi democratizes access to global legal information with unprecedented efficiency, thanks to a multilingual search engine that combines international legal expertise with artificial intelligence.

Based in Paris and NYC, Jus Mundi’s turnover comes at 40% from the US and 30% from the UK. Customers include big legal firms such as DLA Piper, Freshfields, Dentons, legal departments of multinationals such as Iberdrola, governments including Japan and the UK, and universities such as the Sorbonne, Harvard, and Cambridge.

In a sign of investors’ confidence in the company, the first-round investors Seed4Soft, Holnest, INSEAD BA, and Irish family office Elkstone are participating in this second round, alongside the US funds Fabrice Grinda’s FJLabs, Hank Vigil’s AceCap, as well as Michaël Benabou’s family office in France.

C4 Ventures President Pascal Cagni said, “We are very impressed by the Jus Mundi team and their ability to leverage AI in a way that brings concrete benefits to the legal profession. Jus Mundi has truly democratized legal search by making its search results publicly available to everyone, not just legal professionals. The company has the potential to become an international leader in legal search, and its business model is a strong differentiator.”

Jus Mundi’s CEO & co-founder Jean-Remi de Maistre adds: “Currently, international lawyers have no single point of access to decisions rendered by international tribunals, and accessing this legal information is complex and vastly time-consuming. Our AI-powered search engine uses automated natural language processing to find relevant answers to specific questions immediately, even if they are buried in 300-page PDF documents, whatever the language.

“You ask a question using natural language, just like on Google, and you can access, country by country, the contents of legal documents with a precision that would be otherwise impossible.”

Jus Mundi’s smart search also includes a directory of lawyers and arbitrators, complete with their specialization and backgrounds, as well as the cases in which they have participated. This essential function identifies the most qualified local specialists for arbitration while immediately flagging any possible conflicts of interest. This “conflict checker” functionality is not available on any other legal search engine.

The majority of the funds will be used to recruit developers, data scientists, and natural language processing specialists. Jus Mundi will also expand its commercial team, which will target the legal services of Fortune 500 companies. This drive to develop the core technology and to recruit necessary talent will help expand the scope of Jus Mundi’s business beyond international business arbitration to sports, environmental, and tax law. The company is expected to grow from 40 to 80 employees by summer 2022.