Legora: From Hobby Project to AI Legal Tech Challenger
Legora, the Swedish legal tech assistant, has been making waves in the industry, often mistaken as a product of the AI boom that began in 2023. However, the company’s roots trace back to 2021, revealing a more nuanced origin story. CEO Max Junestrand sheds light on Legora’s evolution, detailing its journey from a side project to a serious contender in the AI-powered legal solutions market.
The Genesis: A “Frankenstein’s Monster”
In its early days, Legora was far from the streamlined AI assistant it is today. Junestrand describes it as a “Frankenstein’s monster,” a collection of disparate services driven by a passion for innovation. The initial team consisted of a lawyer, a physicist, and two others, August Erseus and Sigge Labor, who experimented with various ideas.
“It was a hobby project where they tested a lot of different things. They built an engine where the user could pull in legal cases and find similar cases,” Junestrand explained in the Di-podden Technokratin.
This early iteration focused on enabling users to analyze legal cases and identify relevant precedents, laying the groundwork for future developments.
Seizing the AI Opportunity
The emergence of OpenAI’s ChatGPT and its APIs proved to be a pivotal moment for Legora. Recognizing the potential of large language models (LLMs), the founders sought to integrate this technology into their platform. This led them to Junestrand, who had connections to the Stockholm School of Economics and could help them apply to an accelerator program.
Junestrand recalls, “They reached out to me because they wanted to apply to the Handels accelerator program. And they needed someone with a connection to Handels. So I was just that guy for them.”
A Strategic Pivot and Rapid Growth
As Legora embraced AI, the original team underwent a transformation. The physicist and lawyer departed to pursue other ventures, leaving Junestrand and a trio of engineers to reshape the company. Junestrand, who had initially joined to help with the accelerator program application, took on the role of founder and later CEO.
The team quickly realized the potential of creating an AI assistant for legal professionals. However, they faced competition from established players like Harvey, an American company already offering similar services.
Challenging the Giants
Despite being a smaller company with limited funding, Legora took a different approach than its larger rivals. While Harvey focused on building its own legal-specific LLM, Legora opted to leverage existing models and build an application layer on top of them.
“We thought that was brain-dead. To think that you will build a better model than Open AI, Anthropic, and Google felt completely wrong,” Junestrand stated.
This strategic decision proved to be a game-changer. Legora’s approach allowed it to innovate faster and offer a more effective solution. Today, Legora is a formidable challenger to Harvey, often competing directly in procurement processes. In fact, Harvey has since shifted its focus to emulate Legora’s technical approach.
A Valuation Skyrocket
Legora’s success is reflected in its valuation, which has soared to nearly SEK 19 billion. This represents a staggering 4,000 percent increase from a year ago, when the company raised capital at a valuation of SEK 465 million.
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