Relativity Launches Rel Labs – Will Invest In Startups

Relativity has launched Rel Labs, an investment arm and innovation hub, with The Legal Tech Fund partnering alongside the eDiscovery giant. The investments will aim to further extend RelativityOne’s platform capabilities, they said.

The company has over many years built a wide ecosystem of companies that it’s closely linked to, but this is a step beyond that. They did not say how much they’d invest or how many targets they’d aim at. Although they added that they want to spend ‘more than $170m in research and development in 2025’.

(P.S. on that point, there are only 3 months left in 2025…..does that mean a massive splurge before Christmas…? Or does that number include some money that’s already been spent over the year so far? Either way, it’s a chunk of cash.)

The move comes as genAI shakes up the wider legal tech market – and eDiscovery as well. This move may help the pioneering business to stay ahead, with what is already a very dominant position in its sector.

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Phil Saunders, CEO of Relativity said: ‘An extensible, partner-rich platform has always been core to Relativity, and in this moment of AI transformation, it’s more critical than ever to back the legal tech community’s boldest ideas that further strengthen the trusted system of record and advance the system of action within RelativityOne.

‘We believe Relativity’s proven track record and extensive distribution are exceptional in our space, but our greatest strength is our incredible community. Together, we are combining ingenuity with scale to deliver solutions that elevate the practice of law and define the future of our industry.”

They will focus on:

System Integrators: Experts delivering custom solutions and services scaling RelativityOne.

And,

Strategic Partners: Independent software vendors selected by Relativity to co-develop solutions and accelerate impact.

As well as ‘Innovators: Independent software vendors that build and sell their own applications for RelativityOne.’

Will be interesting to see where they put their money – and that of The Legal Tech Fund.

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Legal Innovators Conferences in London and New York – November ’25

If you’d like to stay ahead of the legal AI curve then come along to Legal Innovators New York, Nov 19 + 20 and also, Legal Innovators UK – Nov 4 + 5 + 6, where the brightest minds will be sharing their insights on where we are now and where we are heading. 

Legal Innovators UK arrives first, with: Law Firm Day on Nov 4th, then Inhouse Day, on the 5th, and then our new Litigation Day on the 6th. 

Both events, as always, are organised by the Cosmonauts team! 

Please get in contact with them if you’d like to take part.