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$1.5m raised for Aus company aiming to increase access to justice
Australian-based technology company Legaler has raised $1.5 million to fund its mission of building blockchain infrastructure for the future of legal service delivery.
Jerome Doraisamy
The fundraising round was led by MasterNode Ventures, which was joined by Pacific Blue Capital and a number of “prominent” legal industry figures.
“It’s an exciting time to be in the legal industry,” said Legaler co-founder and chief executive Stevie Ghiassi.
“The convergence of AI, blockchain and automation will bring radical change to a profession that has traditionally lagged behind other service industries.”
This change is necessary, Legaler argued, as it looks to target the approximately four billion people across the globe who live without access to justice, which Mr Ghiassi outlined as being “one of the greatest challenges facing society”.
“In developed countries like the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and even Australia, 80 per cent of people encountering a legal issue are unable to get help due to the prohibitive costs and arcane complexity of the system,” he said.
“There needs to be a fundamental shift and blockchain technology will provide just that.”
A goal outlined by Legaler is to bring the “$1 trillion global legal industry online, eradicating the need for expensive intermediaries”, and to further reduce the barriers to legal services by funding decentralised applications that leverage Legaler’s blockchain and developer tools to provide greater access to justice, it said.
“Existing public blockchains have several limitations which limit privacy and transaction throughout, which have prompted us to explore new consensus algorithms and sidechains for speed and cost savings, as well as zero knowledge-proof technology to meet the confidentiality requirements of the legal industry,” said Mr Ghiassi.
Piper Alderman partner Michael Bacina has been enlisted by Legaler to ensure that all regulatory requirements are being met in progressing its projects and mission.
Jerome Doraisamy
Jerome Doraisamy is the editor of Lawyers Weekly and HR Leader. He has worked at Momentum Media as a journalist on Lawyers Weekly since February 2018, and has served as editor since March 2022. In June 2024, he also assumed the editorship of HR Leader. Jerome is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in NSW, and a board director of the Minds Count Foundation.
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