Company: IVO, a legitimate artificial intelligence startup, is just raising one hell of a Series B that's generating serious discussion in Silicon Valley and beyond – but it's like no other headline about venture cash.
Something deeper is changing under the hood of the legal industry, and skeptics and evangelists alike should be asking themselves: Is artificial intelligence finally ready to abolish the most boring profession of all?
According to another IVO A Reuters report said $55 million in funding had been raised led by Blackbird, which is valued at approximately $355 million, representing one of the largest ever votes of confidence in AI-powered legal services.
Read Reuters' deconstruction of IVO's financial windfall and what it means for the legal tech space
It's not just about giving money for the latest fashion. IVO technology solves the problem of corporate legal work – contract review and risk profiling – during which lawyers dig through piles of documents at a snail's pace.
As Reuters highlights, the IVO system divides contracts into over 400 AI tasks to increase accuracy and speed – solving a real business problem for companies like Uber and Shopify.
See how IVO is transforming the contract review process with AI and why clients including IBM and Canva are on board
Now here's where it gets interesting: funding for legal AI doesn't exist in a vacuum.
On the one hand, it seems like investors are pumping money into this space because financing for legal technologies skyrocketed in 2025fueled by excitement about artificial intelligence tools that can sort through complexity faster than traditional software.
According to legal industry observers, AI-powered legal technology has seen a huge jump in funding year over year, and the IVO round is in the middle of this growth.
But not everyone is cheering. There is still an ongoing debate in the legal world about whether AI can be trusted to make critical calls without encountering errors such as hallucinations – something that became famous when AI systems began creating false legal citations in court documents.
This is a reminder that while these tools are powerful, they are also unreliable, and trust is still a huge obstacle.
I've been following this space for a while, and honestly, it feels less like a trend and more like an industry disruption on an epic scale.
When IVO's CEO talks about tripling its team and expanding globally, it's not just talk of growth – it's a sign that legal AI could, in five short years, be as unfathomable to corporate advisors as “email” is to children of all ages.
And while some old-school lawyers are understandably skeptical, there is a real argument for AI as a force multiplier, doing the hard work so humans can focus on strategy, nuance and judgment.
Now the most important question? Who will be the Harvey or *OpenAI of legal technology – some name that will become synonymous with courtroom AI in the same way that other names have creative AI or conversational AI?
Will regulators and lawmakers be able to evolve fast enough to keep pace with the speed of innovation?
If you ask me, this is the train you don't want to miss and don't worry about the rough ride.
