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Luminance, a developer of artificial intelligence (AI) for M&A practitioners in the legal and due diligence domains, is developing tech that will enable competing AI systems to negotiate contracts against each other, CEO Eleanor Lightbody told Mergermarket.

The London-based company wants to allow AI systems on either side of contract negotiations to handle routine negotiations, flag risks and surface key deal terms instantly, Lightbody said. By not having to be directly involved in routine back-and-forth revisions, the end user will be able to focus on high-value decision-making, she said.

AIs negotiating against AIs will “fundamentally reshape” M&A due diligence and contract negotiations by making them faster and more data-driven, said Lightbody. The new technology will bolster human creativity and judgement, which will remain at the heart of M&A negotiations, she said, adding that the company has ambitions to be at the centre of this trend.

The company was co-founded by Director of AI Graham Sills and Chief Technical Architect Adam Guthrie in 2015, initially focusing on providing AI solutions for legal contract negotiations during M&A due diligence, the executive said. Its technology has since evolved to read and understand documents, instantly surface risks or statistical anomalies, and provides deeper insights for lawyers, she said.

The company, which does not disclose its financial information, has grown its annual recurring revenue (ARR) 5x in the past two years, said Lightbody, noting that 40% of revenues come from US. It is not yet profitable and is “not trying to be,” she said.

Last month, Luminance raised USD 75m in a Series C funding round led by Point72 Private Investments.

March Capital led the company’s USD 40m Series B round in April 2024.

The fresh capital will be used to continue developing Luminance’s technology and drive growth, the CEO said.

For example, it plans to build out legally-adjacent use cases for its technology and bolster automation in areas such as insurance policies, compliance and procurement, she said.

Luminance does not rule out making acquisitions in the future but M&A is not its immediate focus, said Lightbody. It did not use an advisor for its Series C round.

The company has 250 employees spread across offices in London, Dallas, Toronto, New York, San Francisco, Cambridge and Singapore, said the CEO. It has 700 customers, including Slaughter & May and White & Case, in 70 countries, she added.