As Toronto-based Alexi approaches a revenue milestone, its CEO says the competitive landscape of legaltech powered by artificial intelligence (AI) is akin to a “war.”
Mark Doble, who co-founded the startup in 2017, claimed Alexi saw a 3,000-percent boost in users year-over-year and now serves more than 600 mid-market to enterprise legal firms as customers. These firms include Ontario’s Oatley Vigmond and Vancouver’s MacLean Law.
“Our positioning is [that] it is war and we are going to win. None of this ‘rising tide lifts all boats.’”
Mark Doble, Alexi
But Alexi’s rapid growth is set against an uber-competitive legaltech landscape where many legal firms are rushing to incorporate AI tools. This has led industry incumbents like Thomson Reuters and LexisNexis to roll out their own AI solutions. Meanwhile, the capital is flowing for startups: this month, Toronto-based Spellbook raised $50 million USD for its “AI copilot for lawyers.” Canadian tech’s largest-ever software funding round went to legaltech Clio last year.
Despite legaltech’s rise in popularity, Doble says he is confident in Alexi’s competitive advantage. In an interview with BetaKit, he described workflow automation for upper-mid-market and enterprise law firms as a “three-company race” between his startup, American company Harvey, and European firm Legora.
“Our positioning is [that] it is war and we are going to win. None of this ‘rising tide lifts all boats.’ We are outcompeting on every dimension,” he claimed.
San Francisco-based legal software provider Harvey was most recently valued at $5 billion USD and announced in August plans to expand its Canadian presence with more than 20 roles in Toronto. Harvey declined to comment for this article.
Legora, a large player in the European market, raised an $80-million USD Series B round earlier this year at a $675-million USD valuation. It says it has served more than 400 customers. Legora did not respond to a request for comment.
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Alexi sells AI-powered litigation software designed to help lawyers and legal teams produce research memos, identify relevant legal issues and arguments, and automate routine tasks. It recently ramped up custom workflow creation for law firms, establishing a library of agentic workflows that firms can adopt and tailor to their needs.
As the use of AI gains steam in the industry, legal professionals have concerns about its implementation. A 2024 survey of 443 Canadian legal professionals by Appara, a legaltech company, found that concerns around data privacy, security, and tool accuracy are “holding the legal industry back from fully embracing AI.” Twenty-six percent of respondents were concerned about the risks and ethical implications of using AI, and 23 percent didn’t trust how their data was being used.
Part of Alexi’s competitive edge, according to Doble, is the company’s new, security-focused option for data-hosting services. This year, Alexi debuted private cloud deployment as a security-forward option, which relies on a single-tenant architecture. This means there is a single instance of the Alexi software app for each individual client firm, reducing the risk of insecure data transfers. Data security has become a hot-button issue in Canada as the federal government explores “sovereign” cloud hosting to reduce its reliance on US companies.
With a single-tenant environment, Doble said the customer, rather than the vendor, benefits from any investments made into the platform. “It really incentivizes law firms to invest in their own AI technology,” he said.
Numbers-wise, Doble said private cloud has allowed Alexi to grow significantly this year. The company claims it’s on track to hit $10 million in annual run rate (monthly revenue times 12) by the end of the year. Its revenue is roughly split between Canada and its southern neighbour, he said, slightly favouring the United States.
As it expands its footprint, Alexi plans to open a New York City office next year but to remain headquartered in Canada. The company has so far raised nearly $25 million CAD to fuel its growth, including $4.5 million in venture debt this February.
Unlike some other companies in Canada that are taking AI-first strategies, Alexi is not slowing down hiring. Doble said the company wants to double its team of 50 by January 2026 in product, engineering, and sales roles. While “AI enablement is critical” throughout the team, there is “no shortage of ideas for us to pursue and things to build” for customers, he said.
“If you’re not hiring, if you’re not growing, you’ve run out of ideas,” Doble added.
Feature image courtesy Alexi.