TUM automated legal analysis spinout Rfrnz has secured backing from Unternehmertum-operated Initiative for Industrial Innovations, HTGF and unnamed additional investors.

Rfrnz, a Germany-based automated legal analysis platform spun out of Technical University Munich (TUM), raised a seven-figure euro (€1m = $1.1m) sum on Monday from investors including a vehicle operated by TUM’s tech transfer office, Unternehmertum.
Unternehmertum invested through the Initiative for Industrial Innovations, a Europe-wide program focused on deep tech applications backed by multiple EU-owned investment units.
Public-private partnership High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) and two unnamed investors also took part in the round.
Founded in 2017, Rfrnz has devised a technology that applies machine learning and natural language processing algorithms to automatically evaluate the content of corporate legal documents.
Rfrnz’s platform is able to collectively extract information from multiple contracts, presenting the client with a comprehensive risk analysis and summary of relevant information.
The capital will help further the expansion of Rfrnz’s business through activities including product enhancement and additions to its workforce.
Kristin Müller, investment manager at HTGF, said: “A significant part of the legal value chain is automated by using Rfrnz, [so] process efficiency and cost savings are realised for the customer.
“We are convinced that the market for artificial intelligence-based legal services will develop very strongly and look forward to working with the dedicated team at Rfrnz.”