The legal world is notoriously slow to change. Bound by tradition and handwritten rules, even its tech adoption has long lagged behind. But Nnamdi Emelifeonwu saw an opening—not just for innovation, but for inclusion. While working as a lawyer at the global firm Freshfields, Emelifeonwu was intrigued by how his colleague Feargus MacDaeid, one of the U.K.’s few registered blind lawyers, navigated complex legal documents. When he asked MacDaeid what would make his job easier, the answer was striking in its simplicity:
“Help me navigate definitions in complex contracts without losing context”
That single sentence sparked a revolution in legal tech.
In 2017, Emelifeonwu and MacDaeid co-founded Definely, a London-based AI startup transforming the way lawyers draft, review, and collaborate on legal documents. What began as a tool to assist visually impaired professionals has evolved into a comprehensive AI-powered productivity suite, now trusted by some of the world’s most rigorous legal minds.
This week, Definely announced a $30 million Series B round led by European and North American investors including Revaia, Alumni Ventures, and Beacon Capital. The fresh capital, coming just over a year after their $7 million Series A, positions the company for aggressive expansion and deeper product innovation in a fast-evolving legal tech landscape.
At the heart of Definely’s offering is a smart legal ecosystem built with one goal: eliminate friction in contract workflows. Its Draft feature enables lawyers to read and reference clauses without losing their place in complex documents—a game-changing shift from endless scrolling and fragmented multitasking. Meanwhile, Vault lets users save and insert approved clauses instantly, a feature tailored for in-house legal teams and firms handling high-volume transactions.
Then there’s Proof, a tool that runs deep AI checks for broken cross-references and inconsistencies, and PDF, which can extract and analyze insights from even low-quality scanned legal files. Together, these tools create a seamless user experience embedded directly inside Microsoft Word—where lawyers already live and breathe.
And Definely isn’t stopping there.
“We’re building on these capabilities with an agentic AI system we recently launched called Enhance,” said Emelifeonwu. “These agents collaborate to complete tasks across drafting, reviewing, and proofreading, streamlining work for legal professionals where they already operate”
The timing is key. As firms look to reduce costs and increase billable efficiency, AI tools that don’t require steep learning curves—or switching platforms—are seeing explosive demand. What sets Definely apart is its intuitive integration, making adoption frictionless even for the most traditional teams.
Still, getting here wasn’t effortless. Emelifeonwu described the fundraising process as “arduous,” a nod to the economic caution currently reshaping venture capital. Yet the oversubscribed round is evidence that Definely’s mission—to marry inclusion with efficiency—is not just viable, but vital.
For a legal industry finally waking up to the possibilities of smart automation, Definely is more than a tool—it’s a turning point.
