Genie AI, a London-based legal tech startup, has successfully closed a $17.8 million Series A funding round led by Khosla Ventures and Google Ventures, bringing its total funding to approximately $20 million. Founded in 2017, the company has positioned itself as an AI-powered legal assistant that revolutionizes how legal documents are drafted and reviewed.
The startup’s platform leverages artificial intelligence to help lawyers and businesses draft personalized legal agreements across major global jurisdictions in minutes rather than hours or days. Genie AI offers a proprietary editing platform that includes an open-source library of templates encompassing contracts, policies, and letters of intent. According to Rafie Faruq, cofounder and CEO, the platform addresses a critical pain point in the legal industry: “The main issue that lawyers have is that they are always overworked and understaffed. Our software allows them to turn around a contract in minutes.”
The company has experienced remarkable growth, with more than 100,000 companies now using its platform—nearly a fourfold increase from the 26,000 users listed on its earlier funding pitch deck. Genie AI generates revenue through an annual subscription model based on usage, offering a freemium tier that provides an open platform approach.
What sets Genie AI apart from competitors like Robin AI, Leya, and Harvey is its proprietary editor that is both privacy-aware and AI-enabled, rather than relying on Microsoft Word like many competitors. Faruq emphasized the company’s mission to disrupt the traditional billable hour model: “Everyone hates the billable hour in law; it incentivizes working long over the value of work. We’re interested in flipping the business model on its head—can we build on value?”
The fresh capital will fuel US expansion and accelerate development of agentic AI capabilities—autonomous AI systems that can act independently rather than simply responding to prompts. This represents a cutting-edge subsector within the AI ecosystem that has attracted significant investor attention. The company plans to double down on its proprietary editor and develop more legal-specific editing workflows to maintain its competitive edge in the rapidly growing legal tech market.
Key Quotes
The main issue that lawyers have is that they are always overworked and understaffed. Our software allows them to turn around a contract in minutes.
Rafie Faruq, cofounder and CEO of Genie AI, explains the core problem his platform solves—addressing the chronic capacity constraints in the legal profession while dramatically accelerating contract turnaround times.
We’re excited by this because everyone hates the billable hour in law; it incentivizes working long over the value of work. We’re interested in flipping the business model on its head—can we build on value?
Faruq articulates Genie AI’s disruptive vision to transform legal industry economics, moving away from time-based billing toward value-based pricing models enabled by AI efficiency.
Along with developing our agentic AI, we’ll be doubling down on our proprietary editor and providing more legal-specific editing workflows.
The CEO outlines the company’s strategic priorities for deploying the new funding, emphasizing investment in autonomous AI capabilities and specialized legal workflows that differentiate Genie from competitors.
Our Take
Genie AI’s funding success represents a pivotal moment in the AI-driven transformation of professional services. The participation of Khosla Ventures—known for its early OpenAI investment—suggests sophisticated investors see legal tech as the next major AI application domain. What’s particularly noteworthy is the company’s fourfold user growth to 100,000+ companies, demonstrating real market traction beyond hype.
The strategic focus on agentic AI is especially significant. While current AI legal tools primarily assist human lawyers, autonomous systems could fundamentally restructure legal workflows and business models. This raises important questions about the future role of legal professionals and the balance between efficiency and the nuanced judgment required in legal work. The company’s open-source template library and freemium model also suggest a democratization strategy that could expand legal service access beyond traditional corporate clients, potentially disrupting the entire legal services market structure.
Why This Matters
This funding round signals growing investor confidence in AI-powered legal technology and the broader transformation of professional services through artificial intelligence. The backing from Khosla Ventures, an early OpenAI investor, and Google Ventures validates the potential for AI to fundamentally reshape how legal work is performed and billed.
Genie AI’s success reflects a larger trend: the shift from traditional billable hour models to value-based pricing enabled by AI efficiency gains. This has profound implications for the legal industry, potentially democratizing access to legal services while addressing chronic understaffing issues in law firms.
The company’s focus on agentic AI—systems with autonomous decision-making capabilities—represents the next frontier in legal tech. Rather than simply assisting lawyers, these systems could independently handle routine legal tasks, freeing professionals for higher-value strategic work. With over 100,000 companies already using the platform, Genie AI demonstrates that businesses are ready to embrace AI-driven legal solutions, potentially accelerating the adoption of AI across other professional services sectors including accounting, consulting, and financial advisory.
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Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/genie-ai-funding-khosla-ventures-google-pitch-deck-2024-10