US AI legaltech start-up Manifest OS, which has developed an AI-powered operating platform for lawyers, has raised $60m in a Series A funding round, valuing the business at $750m.
The company uses AI to automate and organise tasks, including research, data handling and drafting, and is among an array of start-ups on both sides of the Atlantic that are setting up so-called AI native law firms.
It is intended that firms using Manifest OS technology will operate under the Manifest Law brand, with the legaltech company incubating its first law firm in the business immigration market as part of the Arizona alternative business structure (ABS) programme.
The round was led by venture capital firms Menlo Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, First Round Capital and Quiet Capital.
The firm says the investment marks a major step in its aspiration to end law firms charging via the billable hour, which it argues causes prohibitively high costs for consumers and binds law firms to time spent rather than delivering results.
The model operates by combining three main components: a unified brand, an end-to-end AI platform and a centralised back office. Manifest Law currently focuses on immigration, offering advice to businesses, individuals, and families.
Manifest OS founder and CEO Dan Mishin said that it needed to “rethink the entire business model of a law firm” to shift the market towards outcomes-based pricing.
He added: “We made the hard choice to not sell our AI software to existing law firms who are often beholden to billing customers more hours as a means to better compensation.
“Instead, we partner with forward-thinking lawyers to help them become market leaders in their respective practice areas, with AI at their core from day zero.”
Ilya Fushman, managing partner at Kleiner Perkins, said: “Manifest OS is taking a differentiated approach to the legal industry by building or supporting a series of AI-native law firms.
“Selling AI-native services is where a lot of the industry’s value will be concentrated, and Manifest OS is uniquely positioned to build a category-defining market leader.”
Mishin founded Manifest OS two years ago, and it has three offices in New York, San Francisco and Phoenix.
Prior to creating the firm, Mishin also established technology-based property company June Homes and co-founded New York-based real estate investment organisation NextStory Capital, before exiting both last year.
In February, AI-powered London law firm LawFairy was authorised by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) to operate. It said it was the first “technology-only” practice in England and Wales built around “a fully deterministic legal model”. LawFairy uses pre-validated legal rules rather than ‘probabilistic AI’ in order to deliver consistent outcomes, with a complete, auditable reasoning record. Immigration law is a key area of focus.
Prominent AI native law firms in the US include New York-based Norm Law, which was set up in November by Norm AI. The New York start-up provides legal and compliance, AI-based software to companies in industries including financial services, healthcare and technology and has received more than $140m from investors, including Blackstone and Bain Capital.
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