Edinburgh-founded legal AI startup Wordsmith has raised a $70m Series B led by Highland Europe, backed by Index Ventures, as demand grows among corporate legal teams looking to reduce their reliance on external law firms.
Founded by former lawyer Ross McNairn, Wordsmith builds AI software designed specifically for in-house legal teams. Rather than focusing on helping individual lawyers draft documents faster, the company aims to automate and manage legal requests coming from across an organisation.
The company’s latest raise comes amid rapid growth in the sector. In 2024 legal and privacy tech startups in Europe raised €380m across 79 deals; in 2025 that rose to €840m across 93 deals, according to Sifted data.
Wordsmith says its platform is now used by more than 500 businesses including BT, Canva, Financial Times, Safelite,Trip.com,Sage and UK challenger bank Starling.
The platform routes requests from channels including email, Slack, Salesforce and Microsoft Teams, using AI agents to handle routine work while escalating higher-risk matters to legal professionals.
“Legal does not need another filing cabinet and it does not need another copilot that simply helps one lawyer work faster,” said McNairn. “Wordsmith is the front door that does the work.”
While much of the legal AI market has focused on law firms or lawyer productivity tools, Wordsmith is betting that in-house legal departments represent a distinct and underserved opportunity.
“What is most exciting about Wordsmith is that this is a tool built for companies, rightfully involving all employees in legal affairs, in coordination with the in-house legal team,” says Highland Europe partner Jean Tardy-Joubert.
The company plans to use the new funding to accelerate product development, expand its US presence and grow its headcount to around 300 employees globally by the end of the year.