Tech startup Collaborative Conveyancing says it has received further investment that will boost the development of its automated conveyancing software for property lawyers.
The business, founded last year, says it will use the undisclosed sum from key stakeholders to hire developers and other staff to work on the project.
It plans to use workflow automation, artificial intelligence and natural language processing to speed up the conveyancing process, which covers a key part of the 21 weeks it currently takes to complete a property deal on average.
It is working on the project with the government-backed Hartree Centre, which helps UK businesses adopt supercomputing.
The young firm was founded by Chris Harris and Karen Babington, who previously launched Lawyer Checker, a bank account verification service for conveyancers during funds transfer, as well as legal marketing platform Today’s Media.
The business has previously received undisclosed funding from managing director of compliance firm Legal Eye Paul Saunders and former LSL Property Services board member David Newnes, as well as a grant from the country’s innovation agency Innovate UK.
Collaborative Conveyancing co-founder and chief executive Harris says: “Dealing with conveyancing enquiries manually remains a huge barrier to reducing transaction times when buying and selling property.
“Conveyancers report finding the back-and-forth rally of questions and answers between buyer’s and seller’s lawyers suffocating and a cause of conflict between professionals.
“This timely investment allows us to bring forward our launch plans to ease the burden placed on property lawyers, and overall to benefit the consumer.”
Legal Eye’s Saunders adds: “The outdated process to which we all are constrained causes unnecessary tension between all parties in a transaction and stifles our ability to reduce transaction times.”
