Ontra lands $70M to accelerate AI automation for Wall Street legal work

Ontra Raises $70M to Streamline Legal Back Office for Wall Street

Troy Pospisil, founder and CEO of Ontra, once spent up to 20% of his workday buried in routine legal contracts like non-disclosure agreements. While working at private equity firm H.I.G. Capital, he found these tasks to be the most draining part of his workflow. Determined to fix this inefficiency, Pospisil left private equity to create a solution that automates these repetitive processes.

In 2014, Pospisil launched a company initially called InCloudCounsel, now known as Ontra. The startup’s first product focused on contract automation, simplifying legal agreements commonly used in private capital markets. Since then, Ontra has expanded its offerings to include contract negotiation tools, fundraising simplification, and modernized entity management. Together, these products aim to reduce the burden on legal teams and back-office operations.

Funding and Growth

Ontra recently secured $70 million in financing from Silicon Valley Bank, a unit of First Citizens Bank. This brings Ontra’s total funding to $325 million from investors such as Blackstone, Battery Ventures, and Mike Paulus, cofounder of Assurance IQ. Because the latest round involved debt rather than equity, no valuation was disclosed. Pospisil chose this route to avoid diluting ownership for employees and existing investors while partnering with a lender offering favorable terms.

Today, Ontra serves around 850 clients, including top investment banks and private equity firms like Blackstone, Warburg Pincus, Motive Partners, and asset manager AllianceBernstein.

Legal AI and Product Expansion

Ontra is part of a growing group of legal tech startups, alongside companies like Ironclad and Juro, that use AI to automate legal workflows for private markets and investment firms. The company operates offices in San Francisco, New York, and London, and employs approximately 385 people. To date, Ontra has processed over 1.5 million legal documents.

Much of the new funding will go toward research and development. In September, Ontra plans to roll out three new products aimed at streamlining due diligence questionnaires, simplifying customer verification processes, and accelerating contract negotiation timelines. Pospisil intends to maintain a steady product launch cadence, targeting two new releases annually to meet client needs.

“We want to be the indispensable, ubiquitous infrastructure provider for the private markets,” Pospisil said.

IPO Plans

Regarding a potential IPO, Pospisil is cautious. Although the IPO market has slowed since its peak in 2021, recent successful offerings, including a strong debut by crypto firm Circle, have opened new opportunities for tech companies. He emphasized that an IPO would only happen if it makes sense for Ontra’s business, rather than being a goal in itself.

What This Means for Legal Professionals

For legal teams, Ontra’s technology promises to cut down time spent on routine contract review and negotiation, freeing up resources for higher-value tasks. Firms involved in private equity, asset management, and investment banking may find these tools especially beneficial for managing large volumes of legal documents efficiently.

As AI continues to shape the legal tech landscape, staying informed about tools like Ontra’s can help legal professionals improve accuracy and speed in contract workflows. For those interested in expanding AI skills relevant to legal automation, exploring Complete AI Training’s automation courses offers practical knowledge to leverage these advancements.