Crediverso, a company that launched at TechCrunch Disrupt 2020, raised $3.5 million in what founder and CEO Carlos “Charlie” Hernandez called a pre-Series A funding round.
The new investment enables the company — which has helped thousands of users in the U.S. Latino community with financial products advice — to jump into legal tech and services.
Crediverso’s My Pocket Lawyer chat. Image Credits: Crediverso
Crediverso’s newest product, My Pocket Lawyer, provides access to legal resources so that consumers, small businesses and freelancers can get help with complex legal issues. At its core is generative artificial intelligence and large language model technology powering the data collection and access.
Then via the Crediverso Learning Center, the company breaks down complicated legal and financial information into digestible terms and next steps for both Spanish- and English-speaking communities. My Pocket Lawyer continues to be in private beta, being tested by a handful of users.
Hernandez, who is an attorney himself and grew up in a family of lawyers, told TechCrunch via email that being an attorney taught him the law, but being a small business owner taught him the human costs of not knowing it.
“My Pocket Lawyer bridges that gap,” Hernandez said. “We hear stories every day about people exploited because they couldn’t afford legal advice. That’s what drives us.”
He cited a study by the California State Bar that showed only 32% of Californians sought legal help due to cost and uncertainty about the process.
Crediverso identified the need for this product, particularly in cases involving landlords and tenants, employment disputes, contract review and execution. In most of those cases, consumers and businesses have two options: Look for legal information online or hire a lawyer.
“Though online platforms like LegalZoom and Rocket Lawyer exist, they often fall short in capabilities and specialization, leaving users with generic articles that are unresponsive to their unique concerns,” Hernandez said. “Alternatively, while there are many law firms, hourly rates range from $200 to $500, rendering them more a luxury than a realistic option. Faced with these two bad choices, many people are often left without access to the legal resources they need.”
In most cases, My Pocket Lawyer will reduce the need for an attorney in over 50% of cases, he added.
Torch Capital and Gaingels led the round and were joined by existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners and Act One Ventures. Crediverso’s total funding is now $6.6 million, including this raise of $3.5 million.
Hernandez intends to deploy the new capital into technology and product development and to launch My Pocket Lawyer.
“We also plan to build out a network of qualified attorneys to connect with our users for those legal questions whose complexity necessitates a trusted and vetted lawyer,” Hernandez said. “We also hope to make publicly available the features of My Pocket Lawyer that go beyond contract analysis.”