Belgian legaltech startup Duely has raised €1.1 million to expand its AI-native legal services model for mergers and acquisitions. The Ghent-based company will use the funding to strengthen its technology, scale its operations across Europe, and deepen its role in transaction-related legal work. The announcement highlights growing investor interest in professional services companies that use artificial intelligence not only as software, but as a core delivery model.
Funding Round Backs AI-Native Legal Services
The round was led by Scalefund and Golden Egg Check, with participation from ML6 and several angel investors from the technology, finance, and M&A sectors. According to publicly available company updates, the investor group also includes experienced names connected to firms such as Google DeepMind, Moelis, ECI Partners, Ecorus, Emasphere, Timefold, and Manulife CQS Investment Management. Their involvement gives Duely access to a mix of AI, investment, legal, and transaction expertise as it seeks to build a new category of legal service provider.
Duely is positioning itself differently from many legaltech companies that sell tools to law firms or in-house legal teams. Instead of operating mainly as a software vendor, the company uses its proprietary AI engine to deliver legal services directly to clients involved in M&A processes. This approach allows Duely to combine legal oversight with technology-enabled workflows designed to reduce the manual burden of document-heavy transaction work.
From Virtual Data Rooms to M&A Services
Duely originally began as an API-first technology company building AI capabilities for virtual data rooms. These digital environments are widely used in M&A transactions to store, manage, and share confidential documents between buyers, sellers, advisers, and legal teams. The company’s early technology focused on helping users process, structure, and analyse large volumes of transaction-related information more efficiently.
In early 2026, Duely broadened its model by moving beyond software integration and offering legal services directly. Its services now include data room preparation, legal due diligence, document review, and support for broader transaction workflows. By applying AI to repetitive and document-intensive tasks, the company aims to make M&A legal work faster, more consistent, and more accessible.
A Shift in Professional Services
The funding comes at a time when AI-native service companies are challenging traditional models in sectors such as law, consulting, finance, and accounting. In legal services, much of the work around M&A still depends on manual review, coordination, and risk identification across large document sets. Duely’s model reflects a broader shift from hourly, labour-intensive delivery toward technology-supported execution with legal experts supervising the process.
The company says it already works with clients including Corporatewise, FincoEnergies, team.blue, and Sofindev. These customers point to Duely’s relevance for investors, corporate development teams, M&A advisers, and companies preparing for acquisitions or exits. For such organisations, faster legal due diligence and better transaction documentation can directly affect timelines, costs, and deal execution.
European Expansion Plans
Duely plans to use the new capital to professionalise its services further, expand its proprietary AI platform, and grow its presence in the European M&A market. The company’s stated ambition is to become a leading AI-native legal service provider for M&A across Europe. Its strategy depends on proving that specialised legal work can be delivered with the reliability of a professional services firm and the scalability of a technology company.
The presence of ML6 in the round also underlines the technical dimension of the business. As legal AI adoption increases, companies operating in sensitive areas such as M&A must address not only automation, but also accuracy, confidentiality, governance, and human oversight. Duely’s challenge will be to show that its AI-supported model can improve efficiency without compromising the legal judgement and trust required in high-stakes transactions.
Duely’s €1.1 million raise marks a notable step for Belgium’s legaltech and AI services ecosystem. By using its own technology to deliver legal work rather than simply selling software, the company is betting on a more integrated future for professional services. If it can scale across Europe while maintaining quality and trust, Duely could become part of a new generation of AI-native firms reshaping how M&A legal support is delivered.