Fund further growth
Two former Magic Circle lawyers have raised $30 million (£22 million) to fund their AI-powered legal tech company.
Nnamdi Emelifeonwu and Feargus MacDaeid — who worked together at Freshfields London office until 2017 — have secured additional funding to accelerate the growth of their company, Definely.
The company uses AI to help lawyers review and edit complex contracts in seconds, integrating with Microsoft Word rather than operating on a separate system or platform.
Law firms already using the tech include A&O Shearman, Slaughter and May, DLA Piper, and Dentons, along with in-house legal teams at companies such as BT and Deloitte.
The funding round includes investors from Europe and North America, led by growth investor Revaia, with participation from Alumni Ventures, Beacon Capital, and legal tech company Clio. This latest investment brings Definely’s total funding since its inception to $40 million (£30 million).
Emelifeonwu studied law at Queen Mary University of London before completing his training contract at Freshfields, qualifying in 2015. He spent two years at the Magic Circle firm before leaving to co-found Definely. MacDaeid trained at what was then Allen & Overy before joining Freshfields in 2013, where he spent four years.
“As a business, we are deeply committed to building human-first products, leveraging generative AI not for the sake of it — but to solve real and tangible problems that lawyers face today,” Emelifeonwu said. “As a former lawyer myself, I witnessed some of these problems first-hand. This funding will allow us to invest further in developing and integrating our products.”