Libryo secures $1-million seed round, eyes expansion

Cape Town and London-based legal platform Libryo has secured a $1-million seed round which it aims to use towards expansion.

A press release sent to Ventureburn today states that the funding will be used to grow Libryo’s team, product development and for expansion into new markets in Africa, Europe, North America and Australia in the next 18 to 24 months.

“To have received the backing of these notable investors and programmes is a real validation of our product and the service that we offer our customers, as well as the huge market opportunity we see,” Libryo co-founder and CEO Peter Flynn (pictured right) said in the press release.

To date South Africa’s Libryo has raised $1.2-million

“We feel privileged to have their support and expertise as we expand our team, service and customer base, and feel confident that we are well positioned to meet our goals over the coming 18 months.”

Investors in the round include European seed fund Seedcamp and Nextlaw Labs as part of the Seedcamp and Nextlaw Labs partnership for early investment into legaltech startups.

The seed round also includes includes Innogy’s UK Innovation Hub and tech investor Force Over Mass, Libryo advisors Steve Gledden and Chris Field, as well as some other unnamed investors- including a group of angel investors and an angel aggregation fund.

In addition, Libryo is the first startup to receive investment from Innogy’s UK Innovation Hub.

The seed round brings the total funding Libryo has raised to a total of $1.2-million, including its pre-seed round.

The legaltech startup was founded in 2016 by three South Africans: Peter Flynn, Garth Watson and Malcom Gray.

Libryo aims to overcome regulatory complexity, as its platform allows users to understand their legal obligations in real-time. The legal tech software-as-a-service is aimed at compliance professionals and in-house lawyers and can also be used by people without any prior legal training.

In the past year alone it has expanded from five to 50 countries, 45 of which are across sub-Saharan Africa.

Libryo recently joined the Swiss-based Kickstart Accelerator where it will take part in a 11-week programme in Zurich.

Read more: SA, Ghanaian startup shortlisted for Swiss-based Kickstart Accelerator

Featured image: Libryo founding team (from left to right): Garth Watson – CLO , Malcolm Gray CCO , Peter Flynn – CEO (Supplied)