Jewish founder takes startup to global stage
Hansky told Startup Daily that the platform was already making a significant impact for Australian law firms.
Australian Jewish entrepreneur Justin Hansky is in San Francisco this week to compete in the Startup World Cup Grand Finale after his legaltech company Deeligence took out the prestigious Melbourne regional event earlier this year.
Hansky, co-founder of Deeligence with Elena Tsalanidis, will pitch against top startups from more than 70 countries for a $US1 million ($1.53 million) investment prize at the global competition.
The win comes as Deeligence, founded in 2022, prepares for an international capital raise and expansion into the UK and US markets. The Melbourne-based company uses artificial intelligence to help corporate and M&A lawyers streamline due diligence projects through contract review and project management features.
Hansky told Startup Daily that the platform was already making a significant impact for Australian law firms.
“Deeligence is being used to review thousands of documents every month and lawyers are getting work done in about half the time on our platform than they would otherwise,” he said. “They’re actually able to meet their clients’ ambitious deadlines, which are getting tighter and tighter over time.”
The company already counts leading Australian firms such as Hall & Wilcox, Lander & Rogers and Kain Lawyers among its customers.
Hansky, a former corporate lawyer at Arnold Bloch Leibler, realised during his legal career how the contract review process could be improved. He completed an MBA at London Business School before launching Deeligence in 2022.
Speaking to Startup Daily about the competition win, Hansky said it felt “surreal”.
“It feels surreal to have won this competition,” he told the publication. “The reality of the prize is very cool. Going over and getting to meet all these amazing people [and going] to San Francisco, which is the absolute hub of startup land … it feels awesome.”
Hansky said that the company is preparing for a capital raise and eyeing expansion into North America, making San Francisco the perfect destination.
He emphasised that global expansion was essential for the legaltech sector.
“If you want to build a really sizeable company, you need to be global from day one,” Hansky told Startup Daily. “You need to be in the US, you need to be in the UK. So for us, Australia is a great place to start. The Australian market’s been an awesome testing ground for us. But in order to deliver on the next stage of growth for our business, we need to start seeing what else is available out there and heading to the market sooner rather than later.”
Deeligence raised $1.5 million in 2023 and is now embarking on its next capital raise to fuel global growth. The company is currently hiring exceptional lawyers across Australia to build out its team to help Australian and New Zealand customers.
The Grand Finale takes place from October 15 to 17 and will bring together regional winners and more than 2500 investors.