SpotDraft Valuation Approaches $400M With Qualcomm Support
— SpotDraft is expanding its on-device AI contract review technology as demand for privacy-first legal tools grows.
SpotDraft raises another $8 million from Qualcomm Ventures to grow its on-device contract review technology. The new funding nearly doubles the value of the company to around $380 million, from about $190 million after its previous Series B round last year.
The legal tech startup centralizes its efforts on assisting companies review contracts with the aid of AI, without actually sending confidential data to the cloud. The approach is gaining appeal as businesses in regulated industries seek tools that can preserve privacy and meet stringent security rules.
SpotDraft has already demonstrated its technology fully integrated on laptops with Qualcomm chips. It also can review contracts, flag risks and suggest changes when offline and documents are stored on the user’s device. The contract analysis process itself does not require internet access (only for logging in and team collaboration).
Legal work is a natural match for on-device AI because contracts typically contain sensitive details that cannot be shared outside of company systems, company leaders say. Running AI locally also decreases latency and enhances control, they said.
Demand for this configuration is increasing in industries like defense, health care and pharmaceuticals that often encounter approval delays when implementing cloud-based tools. SpotDraft says the speed of on-device AI models has improved rapidly and now are only slightly slower compared to cloud systems, while responding much quicker.
SpotDraft, founded in 2017, now has over 700 customers and processes in excess of a million contracts annually. The company is reporting strong growth in usage, and it anticipates that revenue will continue to grow at a robust rate.
SpotDraft, which says it will use the new funding to enhance its product and increase its presence in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and India. Qualcomm will also back Boost via joint development and marketing efforts as on-device AI becomes more prevalent at businesses.
