Bench IQ

Congrats to Jimoh Ovbiagele and the Bench IQ team on their $5.3M seed round co-led by Battery Ventures and Inovia Capital. Maple VC was proud to be their first check, co-leading the pre-seed with our friends Semil Shah and Aashay Sanghvi at Haystack. Thanks Melia Russell for covering the story: https://lnkd.in/g74YaEAt Bench IQ is reshaping the practice of law. Their dataset and AI agents give attorneys what they call “judicial intelligence”—insights into how judges think by uncovering the 97% of rulings that never result in written opinions. For lawyers, this is game-changing. What stood out to us most was the potential for powerful network effects around a proprietary dataset. If Bench IQ succeeds, it won’t just be another legal tech tool—it could set a new standard for how the law itself is practiced. We’re excited to partner with Battery, Inovia, and an incredible group of angels including Jason Boehmig and Qasar Younis and AmLaw 100 firms (Cooley LLP, Fenwick & West, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati) on this journey. 👉 Read more on why Maple wrote the first check: https://lnkd.in/gCsQZAS6

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Bench IQ, a Toronto-based legal tech startup founded by Jimoh Ovbiagele (CEO), Maxim Isakov (CTO), and Jeffrey W. Gettleman (CCO), raised $5.3M in Seed funding, bringing its total to $7.4M. The round was co-led by Battery Ventures and Inovia Capital with participation from MVP Ventures and CIBC Innovation, alongside continued support from Haystack VC and Maple VC. Bench IQ’s AI platform provides litigators with insights into how judges think and rule, already attracting top Am Law 200 firms and major tech law firms as early users. INVESTORS: Battery Ventures, Inovia Capital, MVP Ventures, CIBC Innovation, Haystack VC & Maple VC ROUND: Seed AMOUNT: $5,300,000 HQ: #Toronto #Canada #VentureCapital #BenchIQ #TradedPartner #BatteryVentures #InoviaCapital #MVPVentures #CIBCInnovation #MaximIsakov #JeffreyGettleman #JimohOvbiagele #HaystackVC #MapleVC #TradedVC

Legal AI Startup Bench IQ Gets $5.3M Seed Round Key Points 👇 ❶ Bench IQ secured $5.3M seed funding to expand its AI platform helping litigators anticipate judges’ reasoning in court. ❷ The company will grow its proprietary judicial dataset, advance AI agents, and scale teams across the U.S. and Canada. ❸ Investors include Battery Ventures, Inovia Capital, CIBC Innovation, MVP Ventures, Maple VC, and Haystack VC. “As AI reshapes law, much of the conversation has focused on first-order gains from automating existing work. The deeper unlock is AI's ability to enable work that was previously impossible. With Bench IQ, litigators gain judicial intelligence—the ability to understand how presiding judges think, enabling them to craft smarter strategies and deliver better results clients will pay for.” - Jimoh Ovbiagele, co-founder and CEO of Bench IQ and a repeat legal tech entrepreneur. “Bench IQ is transformative because we give litigators judicial intelligence that was once impossible to gather. In my 17 years representing clients in complex Chapter 11 cases—including United Airlines' $23 billion restructuring—I learned one fundamental truth: The judge is the single most important stakeholder in any legal proceeding. When billions are on the line, every nuance in judicial philosophy matters. Understanding how that judge thinks can determine success or failure." - Jeffrey W. Gettleman, co-founder and CCO of Bench IQ. “In a market where many legal AI tools focus on saving time or rely on commoditized data, Bench IQ stands apart. Users tell us the platform doesn’t just help—it transforms how they prepare for high-stakes moments in court. By applying deep domain expertise in legal tech, the company’s distinct approach gives litigators a sharper view of the landscape before making critical moves. We’re proud to back Jimoh and his team.” - Brandon Gleklen, principal at Battery Ventures. “We’ve known Jimoh and Maxim since their ROSS Intelligence days, and with Jeffrey’s legal expertise, they bring a rare mix of technical and industry insight. Supported by a world-class team from Google, Amazon, Tesla, Meta, Airbnb, Instacart and others, they’ve shaped a vision for Bench IQ that’s already earning outstanding customer feedback. We’re excited to support them in building an iconic legal AI company.” - Karamdeep Nijjar, partner at Inovia Capital. #FundingNews #ArtificialIntelligence #LegalTech #StartupFunding #VentureCapital https://lnkd.in/ess3Ub8a

This morning, Business Insider shared the story of our $5.3M raise. For those interested in the full details, here’s the official press release. Grateful to our investors, customers, and team — and excited for what’s ahead at Bench IQ. https://lnkd.in/gtziZCka

Following this morning’s story in Business Insider about our $5.3M seed round, we’re pleased to share the official press release with the full details. This funding, co-led by Battery Ventures and Inovia Capital, with participation from MVP Ventures and CIBC Innovation, and continued support from Maple VC and Haystack, will accelerate our ability to deliver critical judicial intelligence to legal teams. We’re grateful to our investors, customers, and growing team — and we look forward to what’s ahead. https://lnkd.in/gaew42pD

I’m proud to share that we’ve raised $5.3M to take Bench IQ to the next level. The round was co-led by Battery Ventures and Inovia Capital, with participation from MVP Ventures and CIBC Innovation, and continued support from Maple VC and Haystack. When we started Bench IQ, we knew that if lawyers could understand how their presiding judges think, they’d be in an infinitely stronger position to advocate for their clients. Since then, that idea has grown into our one-of-a-kind judicial intelligence platform, now relied on by some of the world’s largest law firms. In the last year, our team:  • Partnered with 4 of the top 5 AmLaw 100 firms, among several more  • Helped our customers secure major court victories  • Recruited exceptional builders from Google, Amazon, Meta, Tesla, Airbnb, Instacart, Kirkland & Ellis, and DLA Piper We’re hiring. If you know outstanding engineers or attorneys who want to help change the way law is practiced, send them our way — roles are up on our careers page. We’re just getting started. The best is yet to come. https://lnkd.in/g3Vj-Wh3

We are pleased to announce that Bench IQ has raised $5.3M to take our judicial intelligence platform to the next level. The round was co-led by Battery Ventures and Inovia Capital, with participation from MVP Ventures and CIBC Innovation, and continued support from Maple VC and Haystack. Bench IQ was founded on the belief that if lawyers could understand how their presiding judges think, they would be in an infinitely stronger position to advocate for their clients. That belief has since grown into our one-of-a-kind judicial intelligence platform, relied on by some of the world’s top law firms. In the past year, our team has:  • Partnered with 4 of the top 5 AmLaw 100 firms, among several more  • Helped secure major victories for our customers  • Recruited exceptional talent from Google, Amazon, Meta, Tesla, Airbnb, Instacart, Kirkland & Ellis, and DLA Piper We are hiring. If you are an outstanding engineer or attorney looking to help change the way law is practiced, please visit our careers page for open roles. We look forward to what’s ahead. https://lnkd.in/gKYtPbgr

Bench IQ is featured in The LegalTech Fund's map of companies disrupting litigation. More exciting news to come soon. 🔗 Link: https://lnkd.in/gTrn7_dU