We are delighted to announce that Libryo recently closed a £787k (±$1million) seed funding round from a range of global Institutional investors. (Update since initial post: Libryo has now raised £950 000.00 by means of a second close of the round).

The news broke on Tech.eu, and subsquently has (and continues) to be picked up by publications all over the world (we will keep you posted - below - as we get more coverage).

Libryo’s fund raise has been featured in (we will update this as coverage increases):

• 28 September 2017 (UK time)
  • tech.eu (broke ±8:30am)
  • uktech.news (±12:00)
  • eu-startups.com (±12:45)
  • www.moneycab.com (±13:00)
  • www.finanznachrichten.de (±13:00)
  • bdaily.co.uk (±14:00)
  • www.fintech.finance (±14:30)
• 29 September 2017
  • http://businesslive.co.za/ (±11:00)
  • http://startups.co.uk/ (±14:00)
  • www.legalfutures.co.uk (±15:00)
• 2 October 2017
  • businesstech.co.za 
  • www.legaltechnology.com 
• 3 October 2017
  • www.moneyweb.co.za 

Solving the problem of regulatory complexity

For those of you that need a quick refresher, the Libryo platform solves the problem of regulatory complexity in organisations, enabling any person to quickly, accurately and cost-effectively answer the question: What does the law require me to do here and now? How do we do it? 

Libryo was co-founded in 2016 by myself (Peter Flynn), Garth Watson and Malcolm Gray. We recognized the need to create a platform for multinational companies to understand the legal regulations faced at each operation. Most regulatory law is not that complicated, but it is terribly organized, with applicable obligations hidden across many legal instruments. To date, knowing what regulatory law requires of a specific operation has been a very manual and expensive process performed by lawyers and consultants. However, the problem is better solved by legal technology.

Libryo offers its users (who are often not legally trained), intuitive search, real-time updates and truly site and context specific regulatory information, anywhere, at any time.

For Lawyers, we’re helping to alleviate some of the legal research work, which their clients are often unwilling to pay for, so that they can focus on adding premium value to their clients in other areas.

Our growth

We’re already seeing a huge appetite for our service across Africa, particularly in the legal domains of environment and occupational health and safety. We’re at a key moment in our business as we look to expand our offering even further across the world and into other legal domains.

Since inception, Libryo has expanded from a global reach of five to 50 countries (45 across Sub-Saharan Africa). The $1million seed round will enable further expansion across four continents; Africa, Europe, North America and Australia - in the next 18 to 24 months. A critical part of this growth will involve strategic hires across product, operations and customer relations.

Proudly backed by leading investors

Our investors include Seedcamp and Nextlaw Lab as well as Innogy UK Innovation Hub, Force Over Mass and various angel investors. In addition, our co-founder team is supported by two key advisors, Steve Gledden (Angel investor and ex CEO of EML) and Chris Field (Partner at a leading international law firm), who also joined the round as investors.

To have received the backing of notable investors and programmes is a real validation of our product and the service that we offer our customers, as well as the huge market opportunity we see. We feel privileged to have their support and expertise as we expand our team, service and customer base, and we are confident that we are well positioned to meet our goals over the coming 18 months.

What some of our investors had to say

Tom Wilson, Investment Manager at Seedcamp commented: “We've been really impressed with the Libryo team since our initial investment and are delighted to be following on in this round. We see a real demand in the market for their product as evidenced by their strong traction to date across a number of jurisdictions. We're excited to see the team take the business forward and are confident in their ability to execute on their vision."

Kate Jack, Head of UK Innovation Hub for Innogy, said: “We're delighted to be supporting the Libryo team as they move forward into the next phase of their growth. We believe in the team's strong strategic vision and are excited for the opportunities ahead. As the first major investment for the UK Innovation Hub, Libryo is a key moment in our own journey. They are a standout example for us, as we look to invest into the most promising scale-ups driving game-changing ideas, identifying and fostering new digital business models with the potential to revolutionise traditional industries.”

Recognition and achievements

In addition to its investment to date, Libryo was awarded the Seal of Excellence by the EU Commission managing Horizon 2020 and has recently joined the Kickstart Accelerator, participating in an 11-week programme in Zurich.

For more information on Libryo visit libryo.com