A legal tech startup based in Austin Disco has raised $60 million in equity and $40 million in debt, which brings its total to $235 million, for $785 million (FinSMEs).
A legal technology company based in Austin Disco has become the most recent Austin business to become a public company. It saw its shares increase during its initial morning on Wall Street.
Disco’s stock began trading in the $32 range on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “LAW.” The share price climbed quickly and ended the first trading day with a gain of $9.67 which is 30.2 percent, before closing at $41.67.
The company’s first public offering was to sell 7 million shares for $22 and the underwriters offered the option of buying another 500 shares. The IPO could fetch more than $240 million if these options become exercised.
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Disco is an artificial intelligence-powered platform that can assist lawyers and firms’ legal teams. The CEO Kiwi Camara started Disco in Houston in 2013 and relocated its headquarters to Austin in 2018.
Camara explained that Disco is working on positioning itself as the tech company general counsels can turn to when they require technology to improve and streamline their work.
“This is an eight-year journey and where we are today is really a testament to the amazing work of the team,” Camara stated.
The company has revised twice it’s stock price expectations before the opening. Last week, it predicted that the shares would cost between $26 to $29 per share. Earlier this week, it was estimated it to be between $30 and $31.
Disco’s electronic discovery software assists lawyers find evidence without the help of third-party technologies or services. The software is also designed to assist with managing cases compliance, document review, disputes investigation, and data collection, which are all geared toward legal teams and government agencies.
Camara explained that Disco’s technology was created to allow lawyers to focus on more important tasks by automating parts of their work that do not require legal judgment. Automating these tasks is becoming more important.
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“We view our mission as using technology that strengthens the rule of law,” he stated. “Over the last eight years, we’ve been able to share solutions to help lawyers get to the truth in some of the most important legal matters in the world.”
The company was home to 336 full-time workers and nearly 900 customers at the end of March, according to its security filings.
Camara stated that the growth of Disco is only beginning. Disco has been hiring since the start of the year and is continuing to increase the size of its workforce Camara said. Disco is also working to develop new products and expand its technological capabilities.
“I think legal is really at the beginning of that S curve of change where technology helps lawyers be radically more efficient in their work,” Camara declared. “We believe as an open company. We’re a more amazing supplier to our clients who are the general counsels of many of the biggest companies across the globe.”
Camara stated that it’s likely that the firm’s Austin headquarters will keep adding talents as Austin’s tech industry continues its expansion.
“I think it’s become pretty apparent to everybody that Austin is a center for technology innovation in the U.S. if you look at not just Disco but so many great ideas are coming out of Austin,” Camara declared. “It feels like the beginning of an explosion. I’m so delighted that Disco will be able to play a role in the growth of the Austin technology scene.”
Disco’s securities filings revealed that Disco’s revenues have been increasing. In the year 2019, Disco had revenue of $48.6 million and had an operating loss of $29.8 million. In 2020, the company’s revenues climbed by $68.4 million, and an operating loss of $22.9 million. In the initial weeks of 2021, the company reported a revenue of $21.1 million, and a net loss is $11.2 million. This was compared to $15.7 million, with an overall negative net of $2.9 million during the prior year’s time frame.
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Before going public, the company had raised $161 million, which included an investment of $60 million in the last fiscal year. Investors own a large part of the company, as securities filings indicate. Bessemer Venture Partners owns 26.4%, Texas-based LiveOak Ventures owns 19.2%, and Georgian Partners owns 12% of the company.
Disco is among a variety of Austin businesses that have gone public recently, including Bumble which was listed in February and has raised $2.5 billion. It was the largest IPO ever in Austin’s history.
This week, the Fitness franchisor F45 Training, which recently relocated its headquarters to Austin, has concluded its initial public offering in the wake of raising $25m by trading 1.562 million shares for $16 per share.
