After a successful three years, Mishcon de Reya’s MDR LAB is back with a new set of programmes in collaboration with the influential startup studio and accelerator programme, Founders Factory. Together with Founders Factory, MDR LAB will support a wider range of legal tech start-ups than ever before – and entry will not be restricted to one summer cohort but ongoing throughout the year.
Since its inception in 2017, MDR LAB have worked with 17 companies: becoming customers of seven and investors in four. MDR LAB alumni have raised an incredible £28.5m and have a collective valuation of over £100m. One of the key pieces of insight that has become clear over the last 3 years is that no one business is the same and that each requires very different support from the LAB depending on their stage of development.
Accordingly, MDR LAB will now offer three distinct programmes: Launch, Improve and Sell. In this way we can capture legal tech businesses at every stage of their development and provide their founders with the tools and connections to maximise the potential of their ideas.
Launch: For early stage business ideas.
Through our collaboration with Founders Factory, we will walk entrepreneurs through a world class venture building curriculum. MDR LAB will help validate the idea and business model, and provide pre-seed funding so that the founders can focus on what really matters: building a great product.
Improve: For existing businesses wanting to improve and develop their product.
Most similar to the traditional LAB offering, this 12 week programme will give entrepreneurs the opportunity to work within their target market, to pilot and improve products, to gain a better understanding of how legal services are provided, and to understand where lawyers – and their clients – would benefit from new technologies.
Sell: For businesses looking to build revenue.
This two-week programme provides a structured approach to corporate/start-up engagement. This programme is problem/opportunity led and is designed for companies that are product-ready, with traction in the market.
Dan Sinclair, Head of MDR LAB, said: “MDR LAB has been a great success for the past three years, and this is the natural next step. We are looking forward to the launching of this new suite of programmes so that we can support businesses across the entire growth lifecycle. Collaborating with Founders Factory will enable us to provide the best possible service to the legal tech businesses across the world. As people who obsess over product and love supporting entrepreneurs to build things they are proud of, we couldn’t be more excited to get started.”
Nick Le Fevre, Head of Business Development, Founders Factory, added: “We are constantly looking at how to best support great founders in building and scaling their businesses. With the world changing faster than ever for individuals and organisations alike, the potential positive impact of technology in the legal space has never been higher. We’re excited to be working together with the great team at the MDR LAB to pool our expertise and to help the next generation of LawTech founders build for a better future.”
Click here to find more details and begin your application.
Related Coverage
Sifted – newsletter
Artificial Intelligence
