An early-stage startup, LexIQ, has opened its waitlist for corporate legal departments and law firms interested in its beta program. The company’s artificial intelligence (AI) software is designed to draft and review contracts in Microsoft Word.
LexIQ was founded by Samarth Gupta, a computer engineer and data scientist formerly with EY, and Triet Leminh, a lawyer and investment manager. The company aims to set itself apart from other contract drafting products by providing a flexible middle ground—more customized than off-the-shelf solutions, yet simpler and more cost-effective than highly customized products that usually have long and costly implementation periods.
As opposed to one-size-fits-all products, such as Spellbook, Henchman and DraftWise, LexIQ offers customization for specific contract types and practice areas. Its ease of use and cost-effectiveness stem from its function as a Word plug-in. On the other end of the spectrum, according to Gupta, are products like Harvey, backed by OpenAI, which are not as attainable due to their high degree of customization and associated time and cost factors.
The capabilities of LexIQ’s software include drafting, redlining drafts with a chatbot feature, assessing whether terms are market-based or not, and creating new clauses within the context of an existing agreement. Moreover, LexIQ plans to establish integrations with document management systems like iManage and Google Workspace.
The startup, backed by J.P. Morgan, is currently participating in the Techstars Oakland accelerator program. The program provides pre-seed financing of $120,000 alongside mentorship and resources. Through the recent announcement, LexIQ is looking to expand its waitlist and identify more qualified participants. Gupta indicated that mid- to large-sized corporate legal departments dealing with commercial contracts, such as master services agreements, SaaS agreements, non-disclosure agreements, etc., would be ideal candidates.
Clients of LexIQ can choose the AI model they prefer, based on their budget and desired levels of accuracy, to plug into LexIQ’s architecture. The present AI model has been initially fine-tuned for commercial contracts, and further customizations will be made on a client-by-client basis.
The inception of LexIQ emerged from Gupta’s frustration over prolonged negotiation procedures for data-sharing agreements during a major public healthcare project at EY. His drive to make a change coincided with the rise of generative AI, eventually leading him to leave EY to start LexIQ.
Read the original report about LexIQ on LawNext.