Continental Europe News
An award-winning legal tech startup HUGO.legal concluded a contract with the Estonian Ministry of Justice, receiving a grant of up to 3.5 million euros for providing an infrastructure to offer affordable legal services for Estonian residents and now is gearing up to raise 1.5 million euros as a late seed investment to finance the expansion to new markets in the EU and Africa.
A partner of the Estonian government - HUGO - is on a mission to make access to justice possible for everyone, combining a sharing economy based marketplace of lawyers who provide legal services up to 3 times more affordable than the average hourly rate on the market and providing lawbots-as-a-service to broaden the access to affordable and free of charge legal services for people in need. HUGO also supports lawyers’ work by providing them with a more efficient client management tool, work automation, and a lawbot-assistant to minimize their non-billable hours.
“80% of the World's population cannot afford legal services due to its high price. HUGO is here to minimize the injustice people bear due to economical reasons. With HUGO’s free-to-use lawbots and legal consultation at affordable rates are our first steps towards access to justice. We are absolutely thrilled that the Estonian government is supporting access to justice on a higher level for Estonian residents, I hope other countries follow that example” says HUGO.legal founder and CEO Artur Fjodorov.
From May 1st, 2021 Estonian residents with gross income less than 1200 euros (or 1700 euros in case of the rights of a child) receive the first two hours of legal help at HUGO.legal for free which is financed by the government with a 735 000 euro yearly cap and this is only the start for HUGO.legal!
HUGO.legal was founded in 2019 by serial entrepreneurs Artur Fjodorov, Erki Pisuke, and Age Viks. So far, HUGO has offered free of charge and affordable legal services to more than 50 000 customers which form around 4% of the Estonian population. In 2020, HUGO won the LegalTech Startup Challenge powered by Baker McKenzie and in 2019 the Nordic LegalTech Competition.
Estonian prominent angel investor fund Superangel, also an investor of Estonian unicorns like Bolt and Pipedrive, has invested 250 000 euros in HUGO.legal to develop a scalable Lawbot as a Service product. HUGO.legal is profitable in Estonia and gearing up to raise 1.5 million euros as a late seed investment to finance the expansion to new markets in the EU and Africa to increase access to justice in those regions.
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