LegalTech Summize has completed a £40 million funding and reinvestment round to accelerate global expansion.
The Manchester-headquartered scaleup is an AI-powered contract lifecycle management provider with a growing presence in the United States.
It has offices in Boston and San Diego, and a new headquarters location in Manchester.
Alongside Maven Capital Partners, new investors Kennet Partners and Federated Hermes Private Equity, and existing investor YFM Equity Partners, also participated in the round.
Summize helps in-house legal teams, and the entire business, automate and manage contracts with clarity and confidence. Its CLM connects teams and tools for maximum efficiency, working directly within Microsoft Word, Outlook, Teams, Slack, Salesforce and HubSpot.
Customers include Revolut, AMC Networks, Sigma, Matillion and many US sports teams in the NBA, MLB and NFL. The firm has seen five consecutive years of 100% annual recurring revenue growth.
“We founded Summize to bring contract clarity to the entire business, and Maven, along with our additional investors, has been a key partner in supporting that mission,” said Tom Dunlop (pictured), CEO and co-founder.
“Contracting shouldn’t be a bottleneck for growing midsize companies, so our goal is to help in-house legal teams use AI to reduce manual work and spend more time as strategic partners and business accelerators.”
The transaction includes a substantial new investment through Maven’s institutional buyout fund and a commitment from Maven Investor Partners, its deal-by-deal investment vehicle which enables experienced investors to access private equity opportunities.
The investment represents the third investment completed by Maven’s UK Regional Buyout Fund II, which is actively making equity investments of up to £20m to support growth.
The transaction has enabled Maven to deliver a profitable partial realisation for its VCT investors of 3.7x the original investment, which includes the value of a retained equity stake. Following completion, Maven will remain the largest shareholder in Summize when aggregated across the participating funds.
Jeremy Thompson, partner, Maven Buyout Fund, said: “This investment highlights Maven’s long-standing commitment to support innovative, founder-led technology businesses with global potential.
“Summize has progressed from an early-stage concept into a highly scalable SaaS platform with a growing international customer base.
“We are delighted to lead this new investment in Summize at a pivotal point in its growth journey, and the opportunity to partner with experienced investor, Kennet Partners, who bring considerable US market expertise and B2B software specialism, will further strengthen the platform for future expansion.”