JUPUS, a Cologne-based provider of AI secretarial services for law firms, has raised €13 million in Series A funding led by Semapa Next, with NRW.BANK as co-investor. Existing investors Acton Capital and High-Tech Gründerfonds also participated. The platform automates workflows from client intake calls through document drafting using modules trained on German legal data. The capital will support European expansion and product development.
Legal Assistant Shortage Reaches Crisis Levels
The timing aligns with a structural shortage in Germany's legal sector. The number of newly trained legal assistants has fallen more than 70 percent over 30 years while the number of lawyers has tripled. JUPUS processes over 2,000 new cases daily across more than 2,000 lawyers at hundreds of firms. In 2025 the company quadrupled ARR and more than doubled its user base.
LawX raised €7.5M Seed in May 2026. US players such as Eve raised $164M total through Series B in September 2025.
Demographic Shift Drives Automation Demand
Small and mid-sized firms represent 90 percent of the European legal market yet face the steepest staffing gaps. Current generic AI tools fail to meet Germany's strict requirements under DSGVO, BRAO, and §203 StGB for data protection and professional secrecy. JUPUS built its Telefon-KI Marie, KI-Sekretariat, and Dokumenten-KI modules specifically for these rules and integrates with DATEV, RA-Micro, and other practice management systems.
End-to-End AI Secretariat Differentiates
JUPUS combines AI phone reception, digital intake, e-signature, and document drafting in one platform. Competitors typically address only one slice of the workflow. Legora raised $800M+ total through Series D in March 2026 for research and drafting tools. Harvey reached $1.2B+ total at an $11 billion valuation in March 2026 but targets BigLaw with higher-cost agents.
As Semapa Next CEO Hugo Augusto noted:
"Other LegalTech solutions assist, while JUPUS works. That is the decisive difference. … We back companies that want to be category leaders and we believe JUPUS will be this category winner."
Institutional Backing Signals Category Bet
Semapa Next led the round with a focus on vertical software. NRW.BANK committed through its NRW.Venture fund, providing regional validation. Acton Capital and HTGF, both early investors, increased their stakes. The syndicate reflects conviction that JUPUS can become the category leader in European legal AI.
European Legal Tech Market Expands Rapidly
The European legal technology market stands at $6.8 billion in 2026 and is projected to reach $10.3 billion by 2030 at a 10.8 percent CAGR. The broader global legal AI segment is expected to grow from $3.7 billion in 2026 to $11.1 billion by 2030 at 31.5 percent CAGR. JUPUS's regulatory moat and full-lifecycle coverage position it to capture share in a market where AI adoption among lawyers jumped from 19 percent in 2023 to 79 percent in 2026.
Founder Domain Expertise Accelerates Adoption
CEO and co-founder René Fergen practiced law before founding JUPUS, giving the product direct insight into administrative bottlenecks. The company now employs more than 80 people after tripling headcount in 2025 and recently hired a COO who previously scaled Doctolib's DACH operations from 50 to 1,000 employees.