Contract Lifecycle Management Violator Sum up has secured a £5m Series A investment from YFM Equity Partners (YFM) and Maven Capital Partners (Maven) as it looks to grow its presence in the US and further develop its intelligent contract lifecycle management (CLM) solution.
Founded in 2018 by former general counsel Tom Dunlop, Summize has experienced rapid growth through a disruptive approach to the traditional sector.
Its world-first integrated CLM software is uniquely designed to make contract workflows smarter by digitizing and automating manual legal processes, from contract creation and review to contract management after signing. The solution easily integrates into the day-to-day life of any business through established platforms including Teams, Slack and Word, improving collaboration between legal and business users.
Summize has over 100 business customers worldwide, including blue chip companies such as Fujifilm, Everton Football Club, Moonpig and Vodafone. This reduces the average time spent on contract reviews by 85 percent, freeing in-house lawyers to focus on critical business and strategic priorities.
The partnership with YFM and Maven will allow Summize to capitalize on the growth opportunity in the global CLM software market, which forecast to reach $3.30 billion by 2027. Next year, the business will expand into the US, in addition to product innovation, sales and marketing.
Tom Dunlop, CEO and co-founder of Summize, said: “The demand we’re seeing for our technology to solve a real problem facing all contract businesses has been tremendous. It is clear that most companies face a challenge when it comes to scaling their contracting processes and making the entire process much simpler and faster. With YFM’s support, we are in an excellent position to further develop our principled approach to digital contracting.
“The digitization of the end-to-end contract lifecycle and direct integration into the Teams and Slack interface brings the in-house legal department up to speed with its more advanced digital counterparts in finance, HR and sales. It makes contracting processes accessible to everyone and helps everyone understand each other better.”
Funding was raised through VCT UK small businesses YFM and VCT Maven.
Mike Clarke, investment partner at YFM, said: “Summize are intentionally different, and their disruptive approach caught our eye. They have developed a truly effective solution to assist legal departments and processes in their digital journey, appealing to users as it acts as an extension of existing ways of working. The efficiency benefits are quickly apparent to customers, with users of the platform estimated to save 85 percent of the time spent reviewing contracts.
“Summize also benefits from having a very experienced senior management team at this stage of the business and a clear vision of where they are going. We are excited to support them as they continue their growth journey.”
James Darlington, Chief Investment Officer at Maven, said: “Maven is very excited to support Summize. This is an attractive opportunity for VKT Maven to invest in a fast-growing business that has made significant commercial progress in terms of sales growth and new customers. We have been impressed by the ambition, skills and knowledge of the management team and we are confident that they will continue to drive the business forward and realize their growth ambitions.”
YFM’s investment team consisted of Laura Sisson, Mike Clark and Ian Waterfield.
Other advisers on the deal include Graph Strategy (James Tetterton and Matt Harrison), James Bagan, Chris Waterhouse, BHP (Fletcher Adamovich), David Gallimore, Vista (Peter Warburton and Daniel Blake), Shoosmiths (James Foster and Sophie Davies), Catalysis (Mike Hicks), Philip Hare & Associates (Philip Hare and Tom Hopley) and Pannone (Mark Winthorpe and Miranda Foy).
ENDINGS
Photo shows (L-R): The Summize management team with Mike Clarke (far left) and Laura Sisson (second left) of YFM and Jeremy Thompson (back left) of Maven
Notes for editors
Press contact:
Emma Gage, MC2
07757610495
About Summize
Summize is digital contract software that exists to help everyone understand each other better.
Summize was founded in 2018 by former general counsel Tom Dunlop and software engineer David Smith to address the urgent need to make contracts simpler and easier to understand.
Based in Manchester City Centre, the firm comprises a stellar team of 30 legal, development and technology experts. Summize combines the best of human and AI technology to create intelligent contract summaries and make workflows smarter.
The software can seamlessly integrate into the daily life of any business thanks to integrations for Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, Word, Excel, Slack and Google Chrome.
More than 100 companies use the platform, including Everton FC, N Brown Group, Vodafone, Fujifilm, NCC Group, The Modern Milkman and Moonpig. The award-winning business has secured £1.5m to date in two rounds from Maven Capital Partners through the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF).
About YFM
YFM typically invests between £2m and £10m per transaction in businesses with high growth potential located in UK regions through YFM’s network of offices in London, Leeds, Manchester, Reading and Birmingham.
YFM Equity Partners are dedicated, independently owned private equity investors. We are celebrating our 40th anniversarythousand With a year of investment experience, we aim to unlock value and growth potential by providing up to £10m of equity capital to grow established businesses across all UK regions. We do this by helping our portfolio companies develop niche businesses, launch new initiatives, make transformational acquisitions and modernize technology and systems. We are committed to working together with management teams to create long-term value for our investors, the companies in which we invest, and positive economic impact in the communities in which we operate. We manage over £420m of funds, which include venture capital funds and private equity funds.
YFM Equity Partners conducts its investment business through its subsidiary YFM Private Equity Limited, which is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 122120).
For more information, please visit www.yfmep.com or follow us LinkedIn
About Maven Capital Partners
Maven is a leading private equity firm focused on providing flexible funding to high-growth businesses and one of the UK’s most active investors in small companies. Headquartered in Glasgow with offices across the UK, Maven has over 90 investment and support professionals providing nationwide coverage. Maven has more than £740 million under management and ready for investment and manages the assets of a variety of client funds, including venture capital funds, MBO Funds, UK regional fund mandates and Maven Investor Partners, a syndicate of institutional, family office and sophisticated investors. .
For more information, please visit www.mavencp.com
Summize secures £5 million Series A investment from YFM Equity Partners and Maven Capital Partners
