3 days ago
32. Harvey
Founders: Winston Weinberg (CEO), Gabe PereryaLaunched: 2022Headquarters: San FranciscoFunding: $500 millionValuation: $3 billionKey Technologies: Artificial intelligence, generative AIIndustry: Enterprise technology, legal servicesPrevious appearances on Disruptor 50 list: 0
In law firms, young associates are expected to grind through endless hours of research and document review. Harvey, an AI-powered legal technology company, offers an alternative: automation that frees up associates to focus on strategy. The three-year-old startup is part of a new wave of AI companies targeting professional services and reshaping knowledge work.
Founded by a former lawyer and a Google AI researcher, Harvey builds large language models tailored for legal and compliance work. Its software handles tasks like analyzing and drafting contracts, due diligence, litigation support, and compliance workflows.
It's caught on with some of the world's largest companies and law firms. Harvey has more than 250 enterprise customers in 43 countries, including A&O Shearman, Verizon and PwC. In September 2024, it announced a collaboration with PwC to co-build the Tax AI Assistant, a suite of models trained on curated tax data and refined with feedback from PwC's own experts. The partnership highlights Harvey's strategy of working closely with firms to tailor its models.
Despite the fear of AI replacing knowledge workers, Harvey's CEO and co-founder Winston Weinberg, a former lawyer himself, says Harvey aids lawyers but doesn't replace them. "It's not job displacement, it's task displacement," he said on the "No Priors" podcast. "Getting rid of those tasks doesn't mean the legal industry falls apart. It evolves."
Investors have taken notice. The company raised $300 million in February in a Series D round that valued the company at $3 billion. Investors included Sequoia, Kleiner Perkins, GV, Elad Gil, Conviction and fellow Disruptor OpenAI's startup fund. The round followed soon after a $100 million fundraising last July, and Reuters recently reported that the company is in talks to raise another $250 million at a higher valuation.
Meanwhile, the company continues to add new features. It launched a new version of its Vault storage, search and insights product in November, hired a CFO in March, and opened a London office in September to support growing international demand.
Harvey is betting that law firms and professional services companies will continue to embrace AI that trims the busywork and enhances their highest-value output. The billable hour may not be dead, but how those hours are spent is starting to change.
