London-based legaltech firm Legl has raised $18m in its latest funding round as it seeks to grow its team and expand into new markets.

The Series B round, which was backed by Octopus Ventures, adds to the $7m it raised in March last year and comes amid sustained appetite for financing legaltech-focused startups despite a broader retreat from tech investments this year. Legl’s cloud-based platform helps law firms digitise their businesses by automating tasks such as compliance, onboarding and payments. The fresh round of capital will also be used to further develop and expand its product offering.

Julia Salasky, founder and CEO of Legl and former Linklaters associate, said: “By focusing on the business processes of law firms, which are complex, regulated businesses, Legl is able to enable law firms to focus on what they do best – law.”

Salasky, who is also CEO of legal crowdfunding platform CrowdJustice, said the latest funding round will allow the firm to tap the expertise and networks of their investors, as well as their understanding of the market. Legl didn’t disclose the full list of backers who participated in the Series B round, though previous investors have included Backed, Samaipata and First Round Capital, in addition to angel investors including Carlos Gonzalez-Cadenas, Al Giles and Hayden Brown.

Malcolm Ferguson, an investor at Octopus Ventures, said: “We’re delighted to continue to support Julia and the team on their mission to free up lawyers’ time so they focus on creating value for their clients. The company has grown really strongly over the last 12 months, and is positioning itself to become the go-to solution for law firms looking to modernise and automate their non-core work. Not only does this improve a law firm’s revenues and margins, but it also means they can deliver a meaningfully better experience to their clients.”

Earlier this month, US legaltech startup Evisort raised $100m in a Series C round led by venture capital firm TCV and joined by investors including Breyer Capital and existing backers General Electric, Microsoft’s venture capital fund M12, Amity Ventures and Vertex Ventures. Co-founder and CEO Jerry Ting said the latest cash injection – which included both debt and equity financing – will help the firm accelerate its global growth plans.

And in March, Anglo-French contract review startup Della raised $2.5m in its first seed funding round.