Draft:BRYTER

BRYTER (alternatively Bryter) is a German legal technology and AI startup company, specialising in providing a no-code platform. Founded in 2018, the company expanded internationally in the following years, with offices in London and New York. They sell software that allows companies and law firms to create their own legal and compliance software and applications without hiring designated software designers.

History
Bryter was founded at the beginning of 2018 by the German jurists Juristen Michael Grupp and Micha-Manuel Bues, working together with Micheal Hübl.

They raised 6 million dollars in a late seed round in 2019 from multiple investors, followed by a Series A in 2020, which raised 16 million dollars mostly from the same funders, to be used for international expansion. Half a year later, they raised 66 million dollars in a Series B, bringing on Tiger Global Management as a new investor (with an estimated share ownership of 12%), reaching an expected valuation of up to 400 million dollars. Series B was described as being so fast that "they did not even have the time to create a pitch deck".

The company grew from around 50 employees in 2019 to around 120 in 2021. The company’s primary offices are in Frankfurt and Berlin, with additional ones in London and New York City. Since 2021, they have expanded their work with the US market, including closer cooperation with Reed Smith.

In 2019, the company worked with “European Lawyers in Lesvos“ to assist them with providing free legal advice to refugees in the Lesbos refugee camps, digitalising both legal advice and the self-organisation of refugees and volunteers. In 2022, they worked with “United for Ukraine”, helping them build legal tools for people displaced by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In 2022, they opened the “Bryter Center for Digitalization & Law” at the EBS University of Business and Law in Wiesbaden, which focuses on technical developments in legal research and teaching.

Products
The company offers no-code software primarily for legal and compliance applications, allowing users without technical training to automate processes. According to the company, their clients include Accenture, ING Group, McDonald's and law firms such as Baker McKenzie and Taylor Wessing. Their applications include tools that can create customised software, such as virtual assistants, chatbots and tools used for automatisation. Together with KPMG Legal, they developed a module that assisted companies with applying for funding during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the founder, at least 10.000 legal applications have been built as of 2022.

Grupp, one of the co-founders, described the capabilities as being able to do anything from non-disclosure agreements for Chinese law to automating compliance for a large supermarket chain, describing it as "Lego for Lawyer". Hans-Peter Schwintowski, a professor at the Humboldt University of Berlin and legal tech researcher, described such services as not replacing lawyers, but instead augmenting the way they work, particularly in the face of the current complexity of law. The company was described as a leading legal technology company by the Financial Times.