Ridge Trailblazers: Streamline AI is Every In-House Legal Team’s Dream
An unparalleled reimagining and retooling of Legal Ops
By Yousuf Khan, Partner at Ridge Ventures
Slow intake, heavier briefcases
The opening statement on Streamline AI, the first intelligent intake platform for in-house legal teams, essentially boils down to this: it’s built by industry vets, significantly expedites legal processes, and delights its customers ad infinitum.
Streamline, whose seed round we backed last November, is the textbook definition of a Ridge Trailblazer. And the problem Streamline is solving? It’s a biggun.
All lawyers are pressed for time, but corporate lawyers, especially, are juggling gargantuan workloads and don’t have the tools to quicken their intake processes (NDAs, MSAs, customer agreements, prioritizing work, assigning work, etc.).
Lacking visibility, metric tracking, and automation, lawyers and general and administrative teams (G&A) are overworked and lag behind other departments by no fault of their own. Ironically, legal is perhaps most deserving of next-gen AI tools since *yells from mountaintop* it’s the one function that touches every area of a business.
The end result is outdated software, loads of unnecessary elbow grease, and likely a sizable hit to talent retention. On the balance sheet, you’re looking at up to a 30% decrease in annual revenue.
Turbocharging workflows and enabling data-driven decision-making — the remedies to this “black box” problem — are easier said than done. Unless you’re Streamline.
Taking the “work” out of workflows
Much like IT, ITSM, and other enterprise functions that became more data-driven and operationally efficient, Streamline brings this “service moment” mentality to in-house legal teams, and beyond to other G&A departments as well.
Streamline’s platform tracks legal metrics down to the nitty-gritty so that workflows can be optimized and decisions made both logically and expeditiously. Assignments, approvals, and statuses can be accessed seamlessly; same goes for past conversations, actions, and documents. No need to blow a gasket sifting through weeks or months (or years!) of email threads. Streamline integrates with other enterprise apps as well, so requests made elsewhere won’t get lost in the sauce.
Using Streamline doesn’t require any technical wizardry. Get a new workflow up and running in just a couple of minutes, and easily maintain the workflow over time with zero help from the IT department. No code, all smiles!
Streamline’s repertoire of features is plenty useful to the G&A gang, too. Handling service requests for legal services is a cinch. Facilities requests, marketing compliance, PR/comms approvals, offer letters. Whatever G&A functions are on the docket, Streamline’s user-friendly ticketing system is just the ticket.
(In)taking care of business
Spearheaded by co-founders Kathy Zhu (CEO), a 2022 WomenTech Global Awards honoree, and Julian Wimbush (CTO), a former product lead and engineer at Google, Streamline has been putting in work since last November’s seed round.
Among other early milestones, Streamline was named a Top Emerging Vertical SaaS Company by Bain Capital Ventures, and continues to generate buzz in legal circles.
Most importantly, Streamline is garnering rave reviews from its customers. Few can empathize with customers like Kathy, the first commercial lawyer, later AGC, at DoorDash, and ex-Legal Director at Medallia, when it comes to slow-as-molasses intake processes and the resultant cost and frustration.
Pantheon and Branch Metrics are merely two examples of customers enjoying unprecedented efficiency thanks to Streamline. Even with a 40% uptick in transactional volume, Streamline enabled Pantheon to deliver SLAs (service-level agreements) that typically take weeks in just 24 hours. As for Branch Metrics, Streamline sped up their intake workflows by 60%.
Exceptional tech, unbeatable service
Streamline is leading the charge in a space that’s ripe for innovation. Corporate legal eagles have long been deprived of high-tech solutions, but companies are finally seeing the value of a happier legal team unencumbered by sorely outdated tools.
Streamline plays an integral role in this shift, of course, but the company’s dedication to outstanding customer service is just as crucial as its technological chops. Streamline has already rolled out new features, such as enhanced Slack, email, and Salesforce integrations, and has plenty left to unveil. Couple these innovations with its passionate, service-oriented approach, and Streamline has a real chance to become a category-leading provider.
