(Reuters) -August, an AI startup founded by Columbia University alumni and that caters to midsize law firms, said on Tuesday it had raised $7 million in a seed funding round led by venture capital firms NEA and Pear VC.

WHY IT MATTERS

AI's ability to handle routine, document-heavy tasks is unlocking new efficiencies for lawyers, particularly because the legal field is built on vast volumes of literature such as case law, contracts and filings.

By automating time-consuming paperwork, AI platforms such as August are freeing up lawyers to focus on higher-value work.

It also helps to cut costs, a crucial benefit for midsize law firms that lack the resources of their deep-pocketed rivals.

CONTEXT

August was founded in 2023 by Rutvik Rau, Thomas Bueler-Faudree and Joseph Parker, who met at Columbia University.

Besides NEA and Pear VC, the startup secured backing from angel investor Gokul Rajaram, Ramp's vice president of product Geoff Charles, OpenAI's head of engineering David Azose and Bain Capital Ventures partner Kevin Zhang.

The company is based in New York and currently has a team of 12. It expects to expand the workforce to 25 to 30 by the end of the year, Rau told Reuters in an interview.

August operates in a competitive arena dominated by some established players, most notably Harvey, an OpenAI-backed legal AI startup, which caters to elite law firms and big professional services companies.

KEY QUOTES

"The future is one where AI partners with individuals to be a step further than where the industry is today," Rau said.

"We're enabling lawyers to be more productive by eliminating some of the work, so they can actually spend a lot more time working with their clients, understanding their needs and being the strategic value partner for them."