Lawyer-matching startup Lexoo Ltd. has raised $1.3 million in a round led by Forward Partners and individual investors Jonathan McKay (chairman of Just Giving), Duncan Jennings (founder of Vouchercodes), Tim Jackson (Lean Investments), Robin Grant (founder of We Are Social) and the London Co-Investment Fund.

Founded in 2014, Lexoo is attempting to disrupt the legal industry with a free on-demand service which matches small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with lawyers.

The company delivers multiple quotes from specialized lawyers that are hand-picked and vetted for each job and claims to save customers an average of 46% off of their legal bills; each quote comes with full price transparency so customers know exactly how much the legal service will end up costing them.

Lexoo has found a willing market for its matchmaking service, and currently has over 3,500 customers including UK firms Orangefield, Makers Academy, YPlan, Velocity Mobile, Lost My Name, Hello Fresh, and Entrepreneur First.

“The [United Kingdom’s] legal services market is worth £29 billion ($44.7 billion) and so far has widely avoided the disruptive impact of the digital revolution,” Lexoo Chief Executive Officer Daniel van Binsbergen said in a statement sent to SiliconANGLE.  “However the landscape is changing, with demand for online services set to rise by up to 37% over the next five years.”

“Until now engaging a lawyer has been an intimidating prospect for entrepreneurs, who’ve tended to hire via a combination of personal connections and searching Google. But going down this route doesn’t answer the two key problems faced by businessowners – making sure they’re paying a fair price and finding a lawyer with the right experience.”

“We remove these challenges by supplying a selection of lawyers with relevant expertise and providing price transparency through multiple competitive quotes.”

Ripe for disruption

The legal market, particularly in Commonwealth countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia is staid in history, complete with similar practices that someone from 100 years ago would be intimately familiar with should they happen to come by a time machine and travel into the future.

Uber may not be the best comparison to Lexoo, but both aim to disrupt archaic, legacy business models by bringing them into the digital age, complete with the convenience and reduced pricing 21st-century digital business practices should, and do deliver.

Including the new round Lexoo has raised $1.7 million to-date.

The company said it would use the new funds to expand sales and marketing activities and strengthen its operations and technology.

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