Deloitte spin-out company Arteria AI raises $13.7 million CAD Series A round

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Toronto-based Arteria AI, which applies artificial intelligence to the drafting, negotiation, and analysis of contracts, has raised a $13.7 million CAD ($11 million USD) Series A round of funding. This represents the company’s first fundraising round.

Arteria AI is led by CEO Shelby Austin, who previously led Deloitte’s Omnia AI business.

The investment, originally targeted at $8 million USD, was led by Information Venture Partners and Illuminate Financial Management, with participation from Golden Ventures and StandUp Ventures. Arteria plans to use the new funds to build out its product, sales, and delivery on a global basis.

“We are excited to welcome such incredible partners onboard, each bringing deep expertise and networks to help us navigate the global FinTech marketplace and accelerate our growth,” said Shelby Austin, CEO of Arteria AI.

Arteria was first developed at professional services firm Deloitte under the name dTrax. The solution is designed to help organizations contract faster and turn executed contracts into data. This, the company says, provides improved contracting visibility and compliance through advanced analytics.

In October, dTrax rebranded to Arteria AI and was spun out from Deloitte as an independent company. The firm is led by Austin, who previously led Deloitte’s Omnia AI business. Austin’s previous company, ATD Legal, was acquired by Deloitte in 2014. Deloitte is no longer a shareholder in Arteria.

Arteria initially began with a team of 17 people. According to a report from The Globe and Mail, the company’s team now sits at 40 technologists, lawyers, data scientists, and subject matter experts. Austin told BetaKit the startup is looking to add at least 50 people to its team this year.

RELATED: Athennian reveals $10 million in financing as legaltech startup sees growth amid pandemic

The legal industry has long been behind other fellow sectors when it comes to digital transformation. Over the few years, legaltech has seen a surge in interest from the venture capital community in Canada, as well as law firms hoping to digitize their practices. Arteria joins a number of Canadian legaltech startups that have been a part of this trend.

One notable legaltech company is Vancouver-based legaltech startup Clio, which raised a $330 million Series D round in 2019, at the time the largest growth stage investment in a Canadian company since 2000.

Another legaltech startup that has seen rapid growth over the last year is Athennian, which recently raised its own Series A round totalling $7 million. At the time of the raise, the startup claimed its revenue and headcount had more than doubled in size since September.

Arteria’s focus is initially on serving financial services companies. The startup’s client base already includes global and domestic banks spanning North America, the United Kingdom (UK), Europe, and Asia-Pacific.

Austin declined to disclose how many customers Arteria has to BetaKit, but noted Arteria has been deployed “dozens of times.”

“We created Arteria to remove the enormous friction in existing contracting processes. Our mission is to provide exceptional digital contracting experiences to our clients, backed by the free flow of contractual data across organizations,” added Austin. “Securing this milestone is a wonderful step forward on the journey.”

Arteria will use some of this financing to establish subsidiaries in the UK and New York.

“We are initially focussed on serving large financial institutions. New York and London are clearly the epicentre for that sector,” Austin said in an emailed statement to BetaKit. “As a result, while we are extremely committed to Canada, we want to make sure that we are working hand in hand with our clients in their chosen locations.”

Image source Unsplash. Photo by Scott Graham.

Isabelle Kirkwood

Isabelle Kirkwood

Isabelle is a Vancouver-based writer with 5+ years of experience in communications and journalism and a lifelong passion for telling stories. For over two years, she has reported on all sides of the Canadian startup ecosystem, from landmark venture deals to public policy, telling the stories of the founders putting Canadian tech on the map.

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