Luminance, a leader in Legal-Grade™ AI technology, has raised $75 million in a Series C funding round, bringing its total raised in the last 12 months to over $115 million. This oversubscribed funding round was led by Point72 Private Investments, with contributions from Forestay Capital, RPS Ventures, Schroders Capital, and existing investors, including March Capital, National Grid Partners, and Slaughter and May.
Since its inception, Luminance has revolutionized the legal industry by applying advanced AI to enhance how businesses interact with their contracts. Developed by AI experts from the University of Cambridge, the company’s core offering uses a sophisticated AI system, known as the “Panel of Judges.” This technology automates and augments every aspect of contract management—from generation and negotiation to post-execution analysis.
The company’s technology has resonated with organizations across industries, with over 700 clients in more than 70 countries, including some of the world’s biggest names: AMD, Rolls-Royce, LG Chem, Hitachi, and even Lamborghini.
In the last two years alone, Luminance has experienced an extraordinary surge in demand. Its corporate product offering has seen customer numbers increase fivefold, and its annual recurring revenue (ARR) has grown six times over. The demand for AI solutions in legal processes is growing at an unprecedented rate, and Luminance is positioned to meet it.
In response to the explosive demand for its services, Luminance has expanded its operations significantly. In 2024, the company increased its headcount by 80%, with notable growth in North America. Luminance opened three new offices in San Francisco, Dallas, and Toronto, in addition to expanding its headquarters in New York. The rapid U.S. expansion reflects the growing importance of North America, where Luminance already generates 40% of its revenue.
Luminance’s ability to scale quickly while maintaining its commitment to innovation is a key factor in its success. CEO Eleanor Lightbody shared her vision for the company’s future, emphasizing that this new funding will help further accelerate their growth in the U.S. and global markets. The funds will also fuel innovation at the company’s Cambridge R&D hub, expanding the AI platform’s use cases to adjacent legal sectors, such as procurement and compliance.
“This funding is all about innovation, expansion, and scaling,” Lightbody said. “It supercharges our U.S. growth and will fuel key hires and new offices across the U.S., APAC, and Europe. It also accelerates innovation at our Cambridge R&D hub as we expand Luminance’s AI platform to legal-adjacent use cases.”
Luminance’s success is not merely based on a growth spurt; it’s driven by the power of the AI technology that underpins the company’s platform. The company’s AI uses a unique Mixture of Experts approach, which employs a “Panel of Judges” to ensure that contract-related decisions are not only automated but also legal-grade accurate. The technology uses probabilistic consensus to review and validate contract language, a process that ensures precision in areas traditionally requiring expert legal input.
Sri Chandrasekar, Managing Partner of Point72 Private Investments, explained the promise of this technology: “We know this market well and strongly believe in the power of next-generation AI to revolutionize contracting processes across the enterprise. We are excited to back Luminance as it continues building a specialist and trusted technology that has already been adopted by many of the world’s largest organizations.”
Innovation and the future of contract negotiation
Among the latest advancements from Luminance is the introduction of Lumi Go, a groundbreaking tool that automates contract negotiation. This feature allows Luminance clients to send draft agreements to a counterparty and have the AI negotiate on their behalf, an unprecedented development in the legal tech industry. This feature represents a leap forward in efficiency and ease for businesses that engage in high-stakes contract negotiations.
Hyun Koo, Partner at March Capital and a Luminance board member, emphasized the significant strides the company has made since its initial investment. He pointed to the success of Luminance’s products with major customers such as DHL and AMD as examples of how the company is leading the way in providing quick time-to-value solutions. “Recent wins highlight its product capabilities, quick time-to-value, and clear ROI, which are increasingly important in enterprise AI adoption,” Koo said.
The global legal AI market is growing at an accelerated pace, and Luminance is at the forefront of this wave. Research firm MarketsandMarkets forecasts that the global AI in the legal market will grow from $1.2 billion in 2021 to $37.2 billion by 2030, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 48.1%. This explosive growth underscores the increasing reliance on AI to streamline legal operations, particularly in contract lifecycle management, due diligence, and compliance.
Sally Wokes, Partner at Slaughter and May, one of Luminance’s long-term partners, is enthusiastic about the company’s potential. “The legal AI market is developing at a rapid rate, and we wish Luminance every success as they continue to harness this demand and pioneer new developments in AI,” Wokes said.
With its new funding and innovative approach, Luminance is positioning itself to become the leader in legal AI for the enterprise sector. As businesses across the globe continue to embrace AI solutions, Luminance’s ability to automate and improve every aspect of the contract process, from creation and negotiation to compliance and execution, will likely make it a critical player in the legal tech landscape.
