Legaltech startup Lupl has secured a $14m funding round and appointed a new CEO as it moves towards its full launch later this year.

The latest round takes the amount of overall cash raised to more than $25m, with more than 500 firms and corporate legal departments on the waiting list since it started beta testing last March, according to the startup, which attracted considerable interest when it unveiled its product in May 2020.

Lupl’s open industry platform for legal matters – which is being developed with support from CMS, Cooley and Rajah & Tann Asia, and an advisory board of 16 in-house lawyers from global blue chip companies and some of the world’s fastest growing tech companies – is expected to go fully live in April.

In another landmark the startup has secured Jeff Green, a former managing director at Ankura and Navigant Consulting, as its CEO. He said: “Raising $14m from our investors reflects the incredible momentum which Lupl has built up over the last nine months. I am excited about the continued growth of our team and community around this open industry platform that has the potential to transform the legal market for the better for all.”

Lupl says its matter synchronisation software allows firms and in-house teams to bring together all of the people, conversations, documents and data for legal matters in one place while still using their own systems.

Firms that have been involved in the beta-testing phase include Slaughter and May, Corrs Chambers Westgarth, Khaitan & Co and One Essex Court. Singapore’s Ministry of Law has signalled its intent to use the platform to help digitise the country’s legal sector.

Lupl has also hired King & Spalding’s former head of legal technology solutions Cheryl Wilson Griffin, who joins as chief customer officer. Prior to her spell at King & Spalding, she was client relationships director at legaltech company Opus 2 International. 

The management team is completed by chief commercial officer Matt Pollins, a former partner and head of TMT at CMS in Asia Pacific.

Pollins said: “During our beta phase, we’ve been blown away by the interest in our open industry platform amongst legal departments, law firms, technology and knowledge providers. This is a pivotal year for Lupl and I’m excited to be joined by Jeff and Cheryl as we start to scale up our global team to launch the platform in 2021.”

Last month, Brightflag, which provides AI-powered legal spend and matter management tech to in-house teams, raised $28m from investors to help it expand its international footprint and fund further product innovation.