Ivo, a legal technology startup founded by Min-Kyu Jung, has raised $16 million in a Series A funding round. The company, which is rebranding from its original name "Latch," aims to address one of the most time-consuming aspects of corporate legal work: contract reviews. With over 150 customers, including major names like Canva, Weightwatchers, and Eventbrite, Ivo's platform utilizes artificial intelligence to streamline the contract negotiation process for in-house legal teams.

A Shift from Corporate Law to AI Innovation

Min-Kyu Jung's journey from corporate law to founding Ivo is rooted in his frustration with the inefficiencies of manual contract review. As a corporate lawyer, Jung recognized that contract negotiation was one of the most labor-intensive and time-consuming tasks in the legal profession. After teaching himself to code, he founded Ivo to create an AI-powered solution that could reduce the workload for legal teams while maintaining accuracy.

AI-Driven Contract Review

Ivo’s platform leverages generative AI to automate and enhance the contract review process. By scanning draft agreements, Ivo's technology identifies clauses that might be problematic or diverge from standard terms and suggests revisions. This not only helps legal teams navigate the review process faster but also enables them to negotiate more efficiently, allowing them to address issues that might otherwise delay the agreement.

Customer Success Stories

Since launching commercially in April 2023, Ivo has gained traction among numerous corporate legal teams, including Fortune 500 companies. For instance, Quora's legal operations lead has praised Ivo for drastically reducing the time required to review counterparty non-disclosure agreements, cutting approval times from four days to two. This reduction in manual review time has been a significant boost for Ivo’s clients, contributing to its growing customer base and positive feedback from legal teams around the world.

Expansion and Future Growth

Ivo plans to expand internationally and continue its product development with the launch of a new feature called the Search Agent. This new tool allows organizations to scan their entire library of previously agreed contracts without needing to tag metadata manually. Legal teams can now access detailed reports and search across their entire contract portfolio, improving their ability to analyze their obligations and find precedents for specific issues.

Series A Funding and Investor Support

The $16 million raised in the Series A round brings Ivo’s total funding to approximately $22 million. The investment was led by Costanoa Ventures, with participation from existing investors Fika Ventures, Uncork Capital, and NFDG, as well as new investors Blackbird VC, GD1, and Phase One Ventures. This funding will provide the necessary resources to fuel Ivo’s growth, particularly as it looks to expand its customer base and further develop its platform’s capabilities.

Ivo is positioned at the forefront of a significant transformation within the legal industry, driven by the capabilities of generative AI. The company’s innovative platform addresses a long-standing pain point for legal teams by improving efficiency and accuracy in contract negotiations. As Ivo continues to grow, it has the potential to reshape the legal landscape, making contract review faster and more effective, while ensuring that legal judgment remains at the heart of the process.