Blackfinch Group has acquired legal technology businesses Lawdable and Wenup.
Lawdable is a digital-first legal technology platform that uses AI to help adviser firms connect clients with specialist legal planning support when legal needs arise during wider client planning conversations.
Wenup, Lawdable’s direct-to-consumer platform, is a direct-to-consumer platform for pre-nuptial, post-nuptial and cohabitation agreements.
The acquisitions mark the next step in Blackfinch’s technology-enabled personal finance journey.
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Over the last two years, the group has increased its focus on using technology and AI to make important areas of planning more accessible, while keeping expert support at the heart of the process.
That journey began with Thrive, Blackfinch’s employee financial wellbeing platform, which showed how Blackfinch could combine industry expertise with growing technology and AI capabilities to support people in a more practical way.
Richard Cook, founder and CEO of Blackfinch Group, said: “Blackfinch has always adapted and evolved around the needs of advisers and their clients. Increasingly, that means investing in technology that makes important areas of planning easier to access, understand and act on.
Major step
“Thrive was our first major step in that direction and Lawdable by Blackfinch is the next. It brings that same thinking into legal planning, helping advisers move beyond slow referral routes, gain clearer insight into wider client needs and keep more joined-up planning conversations moving.
“This acquisition strengthens the support we offer advisers, reflects our future growth direction and gives advice firms another way to help clients across more of the planning journey.”
James Brookner, co-founder of Lawdable, said: “Wenup’s success has shown clear demand for a more modern way to access legal services, particularly when the journey is guided, transparent and supported by professional expertise.
“Lawdable builds on that demand and applies it to a wider set of planning needs. Becoming part of Blackfinch Group gives us the platform to take that further, using its established adviser relationships to reach more firms and support more clients.
“Blackfinch understands advisers, understands the planning market and shares our belief that legal support can be delivered in a more practical way.
“That makes it a natural home for Lawdable as we move into the next stage of growth.”
Complementing Brookner’s commercial and product experience, Mohsin Zaidi, co-founder of Lawdable, brings significant legal expertise to the business, having spent 13 years as a litigator.