Lawfully raises 2 billion won in pre-Series A funding

U.S. immigration process platform Lawfully announced on the 8th that it had raised ₩2 billion in a pre-Series A round led by HB Investment and TBT.

Since receiving seed funding from Bluepoint Partners in December 2017, Lawfully has raised a total of ₩2.4 billion.

As of 2019, the U.S. immigration law market was worth more than ₩7 trillion. Immigrants made up 15% of the U.S. population, or 47 million people, and applicants could choose from a range of visa types, including work and student visas, depending on their circumstances. Because documentation requirements also vary by visa type, applicants had to rely on lawyers or search the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website for information. They often struggled with high costs and fragmented information.

Lawfully has developed an innovative platform that gathers information on a wide range of cases and analyzes it with artificial intelligence to help users navigate U.S. immigration applications tailored to their circumstances. The platform provides proprietary forecasts and analysis based on user data, including automated visa process tracking, guidance at each approval stage, approval odds, estimated processing times, and the status of similar cases.

Users who need to consult a lawyer can also access legal advice through the platform conveniently and at a lower cost. Lawfully plans to analyze case data relevant to each user’s circumstances and offer immigration document strategies and an automated document system at reasonable prices.

Within a year of launching, the platform surpassed 100,000 total users and 43,000 monthly active users (MAU), thanks to its distinctive data analytics capabilities and transparent immigration process. Notably, 93% of its users are immigrants from 187 countries who live in the United States, giving the platform access to a wide range of cases.

With this investment, Lawfully plans to develop a feature that lets users prepare immigration applications without a lawyer and enhance its immigration process analysis capabilities.

“Compared with other industries, the U.S. immigration law market has been slow to adopt technologies such as data analytics,” said Park Ha-jin, CEO of HB Investment. “Case data is essential for legal tech companies. Since launch, Lawfully has collected 150,000 cases in just one year, combined them with open data, and commercialized its analysis. With its strong analytical capabilities in immigration law, we expect it to lead the market in a short time.”

“Lawfully is a rare legal tech startup offering a unique service that collects data on U.S. immigration cases and uses AI to predict outcomes related to visas and green cards,” said TBT Co-CEO Lim Jung-wook. “It will be a great help to immigrants who face uncertainty despite spending heavily on applications, and we expect it to grow rapidly in the U.S. market.”

“I’m pleased that we can use AI to help people resolve immigration status issues that have a major impact on their lives,” said Lawfully CEO Ahn Jun-wook. “Starting with the U.S. immigration law market, we will grow Lawfully into a smart service that can lead the global immigration market from a human mobility perspective.”

Lawfully: https://www.lawfully.com/