Contract review remains a slow, manual process that strains legal teams. Lawyers must sift through dense language, flag risks, and translate legal terms, creating inefficiencies. This widespread issue has opened the door for Tokyo-based LegalOn Technologies, which offers AI contract review software for legal teams. The company claims its platform is used by 7,000 organizations across Japan, the U.S., and the U.K., and it leads the Japanese market, with 25% of all public companies in the country relying on its solution.
LegalOn’s AI contract review tool, Review, identifies risks and suggests edits based on attorney-built playbooks and each customer’s legal standards. The company states that Review reduces review times by up to 85% while improving quality and accuracy. Despite this success, LegalOn continues to expand its ambitions. The company recently raised $50 million to develop AI agent tools alongside its existing software.
The Series C funding round was led by Goldman Sachs’ growth equity fund, with participation from existing investor World Innovation Lab (WiL). New investors, including Japanese law firm Mori Hamada & Matsumoto, Mizuho Bank, and Shoko Chukin Bank, also contributed. While much of the funding will support AI agent development, LegalOn is also strengthening its go-to-market efforts in the U.S. and U.K., where its business has quadrupled over the past year. The company declined to disclose its valuation.
Founded in 2017 by former corporate lawyers Nozomu Tsunoda and Masataka Ogasawara, LegalOn aims to streamline time-consuming tasks before and after contract review, such as organizing legal requests and automating contract management. According to Daniel Lewis, Global CEO of LegalOn, the company differentiates itself from other legal tech startups by leveraging attorney-drafted, expert legal content. This foundation ensures contract reviews align with real legal standards, delivering more accurate, consistent, and practical results.
Lewis emphasized that LegalOn’s solution includes over 50 attorney-built playbooks, seamless workflow integration, and an out-of-the-box setup. Last week, the company launched Matter Management, a tool designed to help legal teams track contract requests, assign owners, and collaborate across departments.
LegalOn has also entered a non-equity technical partnership with OpenAI, granting access to advanced large language models. Lewis explained that this collaboration provides early access to OpenAI’s latest models and allows LegalOn’s engineers to work closely with OpenAI’s team. This partnership supports the company’s goal of developing cutting-edge AI agents grounded in proprietary legal expertise.
The AI revolution has fueled growth across the legal tech sector. In June, Harvey AI secured $300 million in Series E funding, reaching a $5 billion valuation, while Clio raised $300 million last year, achieving a $3 billion valuation. Despite generative AI’s transformative impact, Lewis believes it won’t replace lawyers. He stated that lawyers remain essential for oversight, judgment, and editing, and those who embrace AI are seeing significant efficiency gains.
The Series C round brings LegalOn’s total funding to over $200 million. Its investors include SoftBank Vision Fund, HSG (formerly Sequoia Capital China), Japanese venture capital firm JAFCO, and MUFG Bank.