On The Road (For Legal Tech StartUps) – Legal Geek + NextLaw Labs

In the 1940s Jack Kerouac hit the road and drove across the American Mid-West in search of freedom and self-realisation. In 2017, Jimmy Vestbirk, the founder of legal tech conference company, Legal Geek, set out in search of the best new legal tech start-ups across Europe.

Backed by Dentons‘ Nextlaw Labs, Vestbirk has been on a European road trip to scout high potential legal tech start-ups.

The road trip is covering five European capitals, which are active hubs for the legal tech community. Three of the main meetings have already taken place, with Paris and London still to happen:

  • Amsterdam: WeWork, Weteringschans 165C – June 13
  • Berlin: Von Greifswald, Greifswalder Str. 80 – June 16
  • Brussels: BeCentral, Cantersteen 10 – June 21
  • Paris: Le Square 3 Passage Saint-Pierre Amelot – June 26
  • London: Thomson Reuters, 30 South Colonnade, Canary Wharf – June 27

During the road trip, legal tech startups have had the opportunity to pitch their ideas to Legal Geek and lawyers from Dentons and professionals from Nextlaw Labs. The 20 most promising startups will be selected to present at Legal Geek conference in London on October 17, 2017.

‘Following our successful collaboration with Seedcamp last year, Nextlaw Labs is continuing to explore and support the potential of legal tech in Europe through our partnership with the Legal Geek road trip,’ said Dan Jansen, CEO of Nextlaw Labs.

Legal Geek is seeking to build a community for legal tech startups, a mission that has grown out of the initial work Vestbirk has done in creating great legal tech events.

‘We will be touring Europe’s legal tech hot spots in a VW van to find the coolest startups on the market. This road trip is about bringing together the startup ecosystem and the legal sector, in a laid back, come-as-you-are style,’  said Vestbirk. ‘The law firms and lawyers also seem very interested in the new tech, but we are not sure if that is just because we are in the bubble.’

He added with respect to the interest in legal AI across Europe that he had seen: ‘The AI wave is definitely spread across Europe and is nearly the first thing start-ups talk about.’