The Contract Network, an AI-powered contract collaboration platform, announced today (17 August) that it has raised $8M in seed funding. The round was led by Tusk Venture Partners, with participation from Andrew Sieja, founder of Relativity; The Legal Tech Fund; Mayo Clinic; Toba Capital; and GC&H Investments, which is Cooley’s venture capital fund.
Launched only this year by former Seal Software president Jim Wagner and the former CTO of Blackstone, Bill Murphy, The Contract Network’s platform parses out contracts into their individual clauses, turning agreements into “data from the first draft,” and uses generative AI, including GPT-4, to provide context and market insights for each change and redline.
Stakeholders can collaborate on contracts in real-time and with visibility into every change that is made with AI-powered translation from legal jargon to plain language. The Contract Network works in concert with existing Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) platforms and also connects to the various software silos that currently exist in a typical contract negotiation.
“The real price of outdated contracting isn’t just about professional fees from the endless back and forth process,” said Wagner. “More importantly, it’s the potential innovation and economic opportunities that slip away with each delayed deal.”
Sieja observed that The Contract Network has the potential to fundamentally change how contractual agreements get done, commenting: “Its innovative approach allows for productive and rapid issue resolution, allowing parties to come to agreement and get to work. This positive impact on its participants and the company’s ambition to build a network serving millions has us excited to be involved.”
The Contract Network clients include Integreon, where CEO Subroto Mukerji said: “Integreon’s clients deserve specialized tech-enabled services that deliver high quality, fast turnaround, and are cost-effective. We are confident that the combination of our managed legal services with The Contract Network’s AI-powered platform allows us to innovatively meet our contracts and compliance clients’ needs.”