Source: Qura
Qura is an AI search engine used by lawyers to navigate millions of documents from hundreds of scattered legal sources, ranging from environmental laws to financial regulations, and is serving over 50 legal teams since launching a Beta in April.
Rocket start
The idea behind Qura sprung when co-founder Erik Nordmark started his second degree in law. One week later, he dropped out after realising that the Swedish legal databases were dinousaric to navigate and that LLMs would change everything. He brought in technical co-founders Kevin Kastberg and Arvid Winterfeldt, both with backgrounds in Physics and the former in AI research.
“LLMs are changing how people work with text. A legal archive that lawyers took two weeks to search is combed in eight seconds with an LLM. It goes far beyond chatbots; Qura is a new way to structure and search databases,” says Arvid Winterfeldt, CEO at Qura.
The fourth co-founder is industry expert Elisabet Dahlman Löfgren, who left Mannheimer Swartling after 22 years as a lawyer, responsible for the firm’s legal tech initiatives for the last seven years.
“I have seen practically every legal tech startup. There is a reason I decided to join Qura; we solve an actual problem—locating intel in vast databases—instead of being a technology looking for a use-case, like most GenAI chatbots who are struggling with adoption in legal. That is why we are winning market share,” says Elisabet Dahlman Löfgren.
Legal tech boom
The legal tech market is midway through a hyper-growth revolution, and AI solutions are flooding in.
Arvid Winterfeldt, CEO, on how Qura stands out:
“ChatGPT created hype around AI’s ability to write. Qura shows the power when AI reads. That is where lawyers who need more than a chatbot find actual use for AI. Instead of spending days in a database, reading hundreds of pages, searching for a niche source or argumentation, you explain in detail what you are looking for and let Qura’s AI read and analyse every page, amongst millions, with careful attention. The heavy work is done in seconds, leaving you with a broad selection of suggested relevant extracts. The primary result is a major reduction in time spent on research. But more interestingly, our AI finds relevance in unexpected sources you would never even open by yourself; that is a game-changer for research.”
Foyen, one of Qura’s first customers, recently announced they are rolling out Qura across the entire firm after trying and comparing several AI solutions.
Next Step
The funding round, led by Cherry Ventures and followed by senior Swedish lawyers and other angels, will be used to improve the platform further and collect more legal data.
After first releasing Swedish legal data only, Qura EU was released two weeks ago:
“EU legal data is a black hole where Qura can create great value,” says Arvid.
Sophia Bendz, General Partner at Cherry Ventures and one of the early leaders behind Spotify, is joining the board.
“Qura is tackling a real, pressing issue in the legal world, and the team’s deep understanding of both AI and legal processes is what sets them apart,” Sophia Bendz.
“We take much inspiration from Spotify’s efficiency in collecting scattered data into one smooth platform. Sophia Bendz, who grew Spotify from Sweden to over 50 countries, is one of the best additions imaginable to our company and board,” says Arvid.
Learn more about Qura here: https://www.qura.law/
