Neur.on attracts international LegalTech stars to Fribourg
Neur.on - the Fribourg-based newcomer to the select world of LegalTech start-ups - has successfully completed its first round of financing in record time, thanks to internationally renowned investors. Its innovative offering focused on AI-assisted legal translation is the result of a collaboration with HEIA-FR.
Neur.on is a LegalTech (legal technology or technology serving the law) start-up focused on artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted translation software solutions for the legal and financial sectors. Using innovative software (SaaS: Software as a Service), Neur.on builds the most accurate, efficient and competitive translation solution possible for lawyers and legal professionals. In this way, they reinforce their in-house skills with the power of the AI network. Neur.on's team of lawyer-linguists and NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) engineers is constantly improving this unique AI ecosystem, in close
collaboration with its customers and the Fribourg School of Engineering and Architecture (HEIA-FR).
Record financing round and internationally renowned investors
As part of its Seed Round, the company raised CHF 1.6 m, far exceeding its initial target of CHF 1.1 m. "We chose to expand our round to make room for the outstanding business-angels who offered us their support: seasoned entrepreneurs from all over the world with extensive experience in the fields of LegalTech, law and finance," confides Paula Reichenberg, CEO of Neur.on. Paula herself has been an entrepreneur for over 15 years, is a member of the Zurich bar, has an INSEAD MBA and is an alumna of the University of Fribourg.
Neur.on's investors include British LegalTech "star" and HighQ founder Ajay Patel; international bankruptcy law tenor and partner at US law firm Kirkland & Ellis, James Sprayregen; Vertinet Partners, a Munich-based private equity firm specializing in technology and services; and prominent Geneva-based entrepreneurial banker François Reyl. The transaction was led by legal publisher Helbing Lichtenhahn, an ideal strategic investor with a wealth of legal data and an extensive distribution network. The support of Capital Risque Fribourg SA, an investment fund financed by the State of Fribourg, Banque Cantonale de Fribourg, Groupe E and Caisse de prévoyance du personnel de l'Etat de Fribourg, was also crucial to the start-up's establishment in Fribourg.
The Promotion économique du canton de Fribourg (PromFR) was also heavily involved in the creation of Neur.on. Jerry Krattiger, Director of PromFR: "The Fribourg Economic Development Agency, along with Swiss and foreign investors, believed in this project from the outset. Neur.on is an excellent example of the development prospects for digitization and high value-added interfaces that the canton of Fribourg is seeking with its economic development strategy in the field of Industry 4.0." According to Jerry Krattiger, there are a number of reasons for choosing Fribourg as a location: "With one of the country's most renowned law faculties and the specific skills of our universities of applied sciences in the fields of artificial intelligence, digitization and management, Fribourg offers excellent framework conditions for start-ups like Neur.on."
Strong link with HEIA-FR
Neur.on is a start-up resulting from an Innosuisse project conducted with a team of engineers from HEIA-FR. Two engineers trained at the school have joined the team, and one of the school's professors is on the company's advisory board. "As the objective of applied research at HEIA-FR is to put the results obtained into practice as quickly as possible, we are delighted by the success of our collaborative partner Neur.on, and this confirms our position", notes Patrick Favre-Perrod. - notes Patrick Favre-Perrod, Vice-Director and Director of Research at HEIA-FR.
Fribourg - Switzerland's first LegalTech Valley
Fribourg is at the crossroads of law and technology, boasting the only trilingual law faculty and the largest center of expertise in document analysis using AI and NLP. " Fribourg's multilingual, interdisciplinary talent pool is exceptional - why shouldn't the Sarine Valley become Switzerland's first LegalTech Valley?" says Jean Hennebert, Professor of Machine Learning and Head of iCoSys, the Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Complex Systems at HEIA-FR.
Source : HEIA-FR