Australia’s legal tech ecosystem just gained a strong new contender.
Parachute, an AI-powered legal operating system built specifically for small- and medium-sized law firms, has announced a $1.8 million oversubscribed pre-seed round, signalling growing investor belief that legal AI is moving beyond global enterprise players toward practical SME adoption.
💰 Capital Raised & Investors
- Round: Pre-Seed
- Amount: $1.8M
- Valuation: ~$8.5M
- Lead Investor: Rampersand
- Co-Investors: Co Ventures, strategic angels and Australian early-stage investors
The round was reported as oversubscribed — a strong early validation of both the market opportunity and founder execution.
👨💼 Founders & Origin Story
Parachute was founded by Ryan Zahrai, alongside co-founders Dave, Vivienne, and Reed Li, after firsthand experience running an SME legal practice.
Zahrai’s insight came while operating his own firm, Zed Law — where he realised most legal AI platforms were built for enterprise firms, leaving smaller practices underserved.
The problem wasn’t just AI — it was trust, privacy, and systems designed for the day-to-day reality of lean law firms.
With a background in privacy and infrastructure, the team set out to build a platform where AI could be adopted safely within the high-trust environment required by legal professionals.
⚖️ What Parachute Does
Parachute positions itself as an AI-powered legal operating system, not just another drafting tool.
Core capabilities include:
🧠AI-Powered Workflows
- Automates the first ~80% of legal work
- Drafting, reviewing, and issue-spotting in minutes
- Context-aware document generation
👩⚖️ Built-In Lawyer Verification
- Lawyers review and finalise outputs
- Clear pricing and defined SLAs
- Maintains professional oversight and compliance
🔄 Streamlined Legal Operations
- Client collaboration hubs
- Reduced admin overhead
- Workflow, billing and client management in one environment
The positioning is clear:
AI handles the heavy lifting. Lawyers deliver the judgment.
🎯 Market Opportunity
While global players like Harvey and Legora dominate enterprise legal AI, Parachute is focused on what founders describe as 80% of Australian law firms — SME practices needing practical leverage rather than complex enterprise software.
SME firms face unique pressures:
- Heavy admin workloads
- Margin squeeze
- Retention and scaling challenges
- Systems not built for small teams
Parachute aims to turn AI from a novelty into operational infrastructure.
📊 Early Traction
The platform is already being used by firms across Australia, with early users reporting meaningful efficiency gains.
One example:
“What used to take 2.5 hours now takes 20 minutes.” — Senior Legal Counsel, Zed Law
Early adopters such as Lazarus Legal highlight improvements in:
- Drafting efficiency
- Margin protection
- Faster client delivery
- Strategic focus vs admin burden
🧠Why This Matters (BSiVC View)
Parachute reflects a broader shift in vertical AI:
- Moving from generic AI tools → industry-specific operating systems
- Designing for SME realities, not enterprise budgets
- Embedding trust, security, and workflow into the product from day one
In many ways, this is less about replacing lawyers and more about giving small firms the leverage historically reserved for big law.
That narrative resonates strongly with investors — and explains why the round attracted strong participation so early
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