Legal AI startup Wordsmith has raised $70m (£52m) in Series B funding as it looks to accelerate product development, expand in the US and nearly double its workforce by the end of the year.
The round was led by Highland Europe, with participation from existing investor Index Ventures.
Founded by former lawyer Ross McNairn, Edinburgh-based Wordsmith has developed AI software designed specifically for in-house legal teams, helping organisations manage and automate legal requests from across the business rather than simply speeding up document drafting for individual lawyers. The investment has been dubbed one of the biggest in Scotland for a decade.
The company says its platform is now used by more than 500 organisations including BT, Canva, Financial Times, Safelite, Trip.com, Sage and Starling Bank.
Wordsmith’s technology integrates with platforms including email, Slack, Salesforce and Microsoft Teams, using AI agents to deal with routine legal work while escalating more complex or higher-risk matters to legal professionals.
McNairn said the company’s focus is on transforming how legal teams operate within businesses.
“Legal does not need another filing cabinet and it does not need another copilot that simply helps one lawyer work faster,” he said. “Wordsmith is the front door that does the work.”
While much of the legal AI market has focused on law firms and lawyer productivity tools, Wordsmith believes in-house legal teams represent a major growth opportunity.
Jean Tardy-Joubert, partner at Highland Europe, said: “What is most exciting about Wordsmith is that this is a tool built for companies, rightfully involving all employees in legal affairs, in coordination with the in-house legal team.”
The company plans to use the investment to further develop its platform, strengthen its presence in the US market and increase its global headcount to around 300 employees by the end of 2026.
The deal marks one of the largest funding rounds secured by a Scottish-founded AI company this year and underlines continued investor appetite for specialist AI tools aimed at enterprise customers.
