San Francisco-based startup Eve announced its official launch this week, emerging from stealth mode with $14 million in seed funding from Lightspeed Venture Partners and Menlo Ventures. The company aims to revolutionize legal services with what they say is the industry's first personalized AI assistant designed specifically for law professionals.
Eve provides attorneys and legal teams with an AI-powered "digital associate" that can automate routine legal tasks, accelerate workflows, and enhance productivity. But unlike other legal AI tools, Eve goes beyond basic automation to become a customizable partner that lawyers can train and tailor to their specific needs and practice areas.
"Most legal AI tools simply replace manual work with basic automation, but lawyers need more than that," said Eve co-founder and CEO Jay Madheswaran. "Eve augments human intelligence rather than just mimicking it. She's the first AI built from the ground up to reason, learn, and work like a lawyer."
Eve comes pre-loaded with dozens of legal skills covering tasks like case analysis, document review, and legal research. Users can immediately benefit from Eve's ready-to-use abilities right out of the box.
But Eve's true differentiation lies in its capacity to be fine-tuned and trained to match each law practice's unique workflows and preferences. Whereas most legal AIs follow rigid, pre-programmed rules, Eve adapts dynamically based on hands-on guidance. Lawyers can customize Eve's writing style, analysis approach, task prioritization, and more.
"Eve augments existing processes rather than disrupting them," said Madheswaran. "It learns the nuances of how you work and integrates seamlessly into your firm's ways of doing things."
This adaptability enables Eve to handle delicate tasks requiring emotional intelligence and human judgment. According to early users, Eve can review complex case files, identify the most salient details, and summarize implications for attorneys better than any other solution.
Eve is already being used by numerous law firms of all sizes, including Frontier Law Center. Managing partner Manny Starr shared, "With Eve, what would have been three days of work, we completed in 45 minutes. I'm now able to close cases 5 times faster."
Eve's $14 million seed round positions the company to scale up its product and engineering team to meet high customer demand. Lightspeed and Menlo's backing signals confidence in both Eve's technology and its potential to disrupt the $100B+ legal tech market.
Ravi Mhatre, Partner at Lightspeed, said Eve represents the next evolution of AI capabilities purpose-built for professional services. "Legal teams need technology that can truly work and think like a lawyer," said Mhatre. "We believe Eve is the first to accomplish that."
As Eve expands, the company aims to fulfill its vision of becoming the most trusted AI assistant for legal professionals worldwide. Madheswaran said, "Generative AI for law is just getting started. We're dedicated to pushing the envelope on what's possible in order to maximize attorneys' productivity and expertise."