Kira Systems, a 10-year-old Toronto company that pioneered the use of artificial intelligence in contract analysis, is to be acquired by the global legal technology company Litera, its 12th acquisition over the span of two years.
Kira’s CEO, Noah Waisberg, a former corporate lawyer with Weil, Gotshal & Manges in New York, and its CTO, Dr. Alexander Hudek, a computer scientist, founded the company in 2011, originally under the name DiligenceEngine. The company developed what was the first of a now-common class of products that use machine learning for contract review and analysis.
Litera said it will incorporate Kira’s machine learning workflows into its Litera Transact transaction management platform. Avaneesh Marwaha, Litera CEO, said the goal is to provide lawyers with significantly expanded workflows to manage more aspects of the deal management process at higher quality.
Waisberg will serve as a strategic advisor to Litera.
Meanwhile, as part of the overall transaction, Kira will spin off a new company, Zuva, which will continue to develop machine learning technology for business documents and that will focus on delivering tools that enable businesses to know what is in their contracts. Waisberg will lead the new company as CEO. His Kira cofounder Hudek will be a strategic advisor and board director to the new company.
Zuva will launch and announce its first product in September 2021.
As part of the acquisition, Insight Partners, an investor in Kira since August 2018, will further its investment, becoming a minority investor in Litera. Hg, a global software and services investor, will remain the majority investor in Litera. Hg first invested in Litera in 2019. Since then, Litera has seen significant organic growth and completed 12 acquisitions, more than trebling the size of the business.