GitLaw, an AI-powered legal platform designed for startups and small businesses, has closed a $3 million pre-seed round led by Jackson Square Ventures. The San Francisco company also announced the launch of its AI agent, which allows teams to draft, review, and negotiate contracts in minutes without legal fees.
The funding round included participation from Flex Capital, Background Capital, and several angel investors. GitLaw plans to use the capital to expand its AI platform across the US and UK markets while continuing product development.
Most small businesses in America operate without in-house legal support. More than 80% lack dedicated counsel, and those that outsource legal work can spend upwards of $20,000 annually on contracts, compliance, and investor paperwork. That's money many early-stage companies simply don't have.
GitLaw aims to automate between 80% and 90% of routine legal tasks while maintaining accuracy and security. The platform draws from a library of over 1,000 lawyer-approved templates that have been contributed and verified by legal experts across the US and UK.
"The market for legal services is enormous and badly underserved, especially for startups and small businesses that can't afford traditional legal help," says Greg Gretsch, Founding Partner and Managing Director of Jackson Square Ventures. "GitLaw is tackling that gap with a product that's as transformative as it is accessible."
GitLaw's new agent handles everything from NDAs and SaaS contracts to investor terms. It can instantly draft agreements, redline documents, or review incoming contracts against trusted legal standards. The company says its approach differs significantly from generic AI tools that many founders have started using.
"Generic AI tools speak with extreme confidence but their answers often have serious flaws," explains Nick Holzherr, GitLaw's Founder and CEO. "For example, some only read a fraction of a contract, but still claim to have read it all. I've been really surprised at how lazy some of the tools are, probably because they're trying to save tokens (their cost), and that's dangerous when legal precision matters."
Instead of relying on a single AI model, GitLaw orchestrates multiple models and workflows behind the scenes. This mirrors how a human lawyer would approach a task: comprehensively and methodically.
Holzherr founded GitLaw in 2024 after experiencing the financial burden of legal costs firsthand. His previous company, Whisk, was acquired by Samsung.
"When I founded my first startup, I was shocked by our first legal bills," Holzherr says. "We were spending thousands on contracts before we had an income. It made me realize how stacked the system is against small teams."
That experience became the foundation for GitLaw's mission: making professional-quality legal documents accessible to businesses that can't afford traditional legal services. The company opened its template library to the public a year ago, offering free access to hundreds of legal documents.
"Legal work shouldn't take six weeks for a three-day project, and businesses shouldn't have to choose between moving fast and staying legally safe," adds Holzherr. "GitLaw is my way of fixing that, helping founders get professional-quality contracts instantly without needing a big budget."
The new capital will support GitLaw's continued expansion in both the US and UK. The company operates with a distributed team across both markets and plans to grow its AI capabilities and document library.
GitLaw's free plan gives startups and small businesses immediate access to its legal document library and contract automation tools. The platform includes features like instant drafting, tracked changes, secure storage, and renewal reminders.
"Commercially-minded lawyers won't be out of work, but most day-to-day contract work can now be done faster, cheaper, and often more accurately by automation," says Holzherr.
Jackson Square Ventures led the round with support from Flex Capital and Background Capital, along with several angel investors. Gretsch praised both the market opportunity and Holzherr's ability to execute.
"Nick has a rare combination of technical depth and market vision and we have no doubt he'll drive GitLaw to be the go-to legal infrastructure for this part of the market," he says.
GitLaw is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.
