A Chicago startup that lets firms settle legal disputes online has raised new funding as it looks to help more companies settle cases outside of the courtroom.
New Era ADR said Tuesday that it has raised $4.6 million in a seed round led by Nextview Ventures. Other backers include Chicago-based Jump Capital and Motivate Ventures, along with Alumni Ventures. Reverb founder David Kalt, Catalytic founder Sean Chou, Chicago serial entrepreneur Pete Kadens and local investor Lon Chow also invested.
New Era has now raised more than $6 million since launching last year.
Founded last April, New Era has built software that allows arbitrations and mediations to take place completely virtually, without courtroom hearings, expensive travel costs and years of litigation.
During an arbitration or mediation, New Era's platform lets companies upload documents, schedule meetings and present their case before a neutral party — all while receiving a legally binding decision in less than 100 days using a flat-fee pricing model. The startup says it can reduce the cost of resolving a legal dispute for a company by up to 90%.
Born during the Covid pandemic at a time when American courtrooms were experiencing serious logjams, New Era's platform launched as companies became increasingly comfortable conducting a wide variety of work remotely, including legal matters. The Illinois Supreme Court held oral arguments over Zoom for the first time ever in 2020, for example. But the startup believes its technology has staying power long past the pandemic, and can fundamentally change the way companies handle legal disputes.
"The goal is to make the entire justice system more accessible," said Rich Lee, New Era's CEO and co-founder. Lee, the former general counsel at Civis Analytics, launched the startup alongside Collin Williams, the former general counsel at Reverb; Shane Mulrooney, the vice president of legal at Home Chef; and Michelle Tyler, the director of compliance and legal operations at Civis.
New Era has now grown its team to nine employees and plans to add additional positions in operations, marketing, engineering and sales.
The startup sells its software to law firms and universities as well as directly to businesses. It recently landed a six-year deal with a Fortune 500 entertainment firm, which Lee declined to name, to be its dispute resolution platform. Lee said more than 50 million contracts have now adopted New Era as a method of handling legal disputes.
New Era is one of Chicago Inno's 22 startups to watch in 2022.
