Tom Borman, LawFuel contributor
New Zealand legal tech doesn’t often muscle its way into the global big leagues. LawVu just did with a major acquisition moving the business firmly into the global lawtech firmament.
The Tauranga-based legal AI workspace company has acquired Belgian contract automation specialist ClauseBase, rebranding it as LawVu Draft, and in the process pushed its valuation to $400 million NZD.
At the same time, it has rolled out LawVu Lens, a legal AI-powered contract analysis engine baked directly into its platform.
The deal means LawVu is no longer just a tidy in-house workflow tool but is positioning itself as a full-stack, AI-driven legal operating system for large corporate legal teams.
From point tools to platform play
The pitch is clear and increasingly familiar – in-house teams are tired of juggling intake tools, contract software, matter management, document systems and spend platforms that barely talk to each other.
LawVu’s answer is to embed AI across everything, in one governed, secure workspace and it has been raising capital and working on this as we have been reporting.
ClauseBase brings serious credibility here. It’s been widely regarded as one of the smarter contract drafting and automation tools in the market, particularly in Europe. Folding that capability directly into LawVu Draft gives the platform genuine drafting and review firepower, not just AI-flavoured admin.
LawVu Lens then adds automated contract analysis across the ecosystem, pushing the company firmly into the “end-to-end legal AI” camp rather than the crowded field of bolt-on tools.
Serious growth
This isn’t just a branding exercise. LawVu reports over 50% global growth, with the US and UK now its fastest-growing markets. Its customer base reads like a who’s who of enterprise legal teams including Arsenal FC, Expedia, PwC, Estée Lauder, Discord, Etsy and Employment Hero globally, alongside heavyweights closer to home including KPMG, Meridian Energy, Sky TV, Foodstuffs and a2 Milk.
These are organisations turning over USD $500 million to $3.5 billion, the sort that actually feel legal inefficiency in their balance sheets.
A rare NZ legal tech scale story
LawVu now employs 160 staff globally, with 100 based in New Zealand, and Tauranga remains headquarters. That matters. New Zealand produces plenty of clever legal tech. Very little of it scales internationally without quietly relocating offshore.
CEO Sam Kidd is leaning hard into that narrative, framing LawVu as proof that New Zealand can be a launchpad, not just a test market. For once, the claim feels earned.
Why Lawyers Care
For in-house teams, this is another sign the AI arms race is shifting away from flashy demos and towards deeply embedded tools that actually run legal departments. For law firms, it’s a reminder that their biggest clients are investing heavily in technology designed to reduce friction, speed deals, and scrutinise external spend.
And for the legal tech market more broadly, LawVu’s move mirrors a wider consolidation trend seen globally, as platforms race to own the full legal workflow rather than fight over single features. Think Ironclad, Icertis, Luminance, ContractPodAi, and the broader push toward unified legal operating systems reported by outlets such as Law.com and the Financial Times.
This isn’t the end of the story. But it’s a decisive chapter.
