13 March 2024, London – Today, Outpace™, a revolutionary digital legal solution for startups powered by global law firm Taylor Wessing, announces its partnership with Seedrs - Europe's leading private investment platform. This partnership will offer start-ups, scale-ups and other high growth businesses a competitive advantage throughout their fundraising processes and beyond. It will also enable them to make business-critical decisions quickly and effectively.
Through this partnership, Seedrs, which has over 1,500 portfolio companies globally, including 800 in the UK and Europe – will refer its users and prospective users to Taylor Wessing’s new digital platform for high growth businesses, Outpace™. In doing so, companies that are raising or have previously raised capital on the Seedrs platform will now be able to access comprehensive industry-leading legal support from Outpace to help structure funding rounds and manage cap tables at a discounted rate.
Outpace™ responds to an overwhelming client and market need for best-in-class legal content, digital delivery, automated document production and expert deal support for the most ambitious early stage businesses. Angus Miln, Partner and Head of Venture Capital and Emerging Companies at Taylor Wessing, and Gerard Frith, Entrepreneur in Residence and Director of the Strategic Digital Ventures unit at the firm, played leading roles in developing the Outpace™ offering. The offering includes streamlined legal workflows and supporting founders by creating funding documents including SAFEs/ASAs/CLNs and other convertibles, secure data storage, term sheets, IP assignments as well as a variety of industry standard and TW best-in-class priced round funding documents.
As part of this partnership, Taylor Wessing will adopt Seedrs as its preferred crowdfunding platform and will refer its existing and future clients – including those on the Outpace™ platform - to Seedrs. Companies introduced to Seedrs through Taylor Wessing’s Outpace™ will benefit from an expedited entry process and will be directed to a priority, bespoke fundraising funnel. In addition to market-leading legal advice, Taylor Wessing’s clients will now gain preferential access to a platform which allows them to raise crowdfunding faster and securely.
Acknowledging the challenging times that the UK startup ecosystem has faced over the last couple of years, this commercial partnership will give Seedrs and Taylor Wessing - via Outpace™ - the opportunity to further expand their respective roles in fostering innovation. Outpace™ believes that all innovative entrepreneurs deserve access to top tier legal support regardless of their background or experience which is in harmony with Seedrs’ long term mission to build a global democratised future of finance, ensuring everyone, everywhere has access to high quality investment and ownership opportunities. This partnership, by opening the door for the next generation of founders to access the financial and legal support they need, supports both mission statements.
Angus Miln, Partner and Head of Venture Capital and Emerging Companies at Taylor Wessing, said: “Seedrs and Taylor Wessing are culturally very compatible. Having known and worked with Jeff [Lynn, Seedrs founder and former CEO] since he set up the company in 2009, Seedrs' relentless focus on quality and regulatory compliance perfectly complements our longstanding reputation for best-in class, high-end legal advice. This partnership will ensure that our clients have priority access to a leading private investment platform. Seedrs’ clients will benefit from our unparalleled experience supporting the very best start-ups and scale-ups from incorporation through to a successful exit.”
Emily Fitch-Deeley, Global Head of Partnerships, Seedrs added: “This partnership with Outpace™ will help Seedrs deliver on its mission to build a truly democratised future of finance, ensuring everyone, everywhere has access to high quality investment and ownership opportunities. We are delighted to be able to offer our founders with the opportunity to access the wealth of knowledge and expertise that Outpace™ can provide at a discounted rate.”
Patrick Gilday, Deeptech Investor and Innovation Advisor at Intel Corporation, commented: "This partnership is mutually beneficial for Seedrs and Taylor Wessing. Angus and Gerard have ambitious plans to bring outstanding legal tech to the early-stage market in the UK and beyond. They have additional scope to broaden their initial go to market strategy and create enduring value for both startups and investors. I look forward to seeing them expand their exciting offering."
