Montreal-headquartered Inovia Capital and Boston-based Battery Ventures led the round for the Toronto-based startup, with participation from Maple VC and CIBC Innovation Banking, among others. The round consisted of US$4.25 million in equity and US$1 million in debt financing, Bench IQ CEO Jimoh Ovbiagele said. (The Logic)
Talking point: Lawyers use Bench IQ’s AI tools to analyze the judges presiding over their cases, and refine their arguments accordingly. Software firms like Clio, Harvey and Thomson Reuters already sell legal research tools that include case-law databases, and many now offer chatbots to help users find information and insights. Bench IQ sees a market in focusing specifically on how individual judges behave, using a dataset it compiled itself. The startup will use the new funding to further develop its technology, and to double its eight-person team, Ovbiagele said. He previously co-founded Ross Intelligence, which ceased operations amid a legal battle with Thomson Reuters.