Sandstone, a legal technology startup, announced $30 million in Series A funding to build AI tools designed for in-house legal teams. The round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from existing investors including Sequoia and Mantis VC. The funding follows a $10 million seed round in January 2026, also led by Sequoia. Sandstone aims to address the complex workflows faced by legal departments in small and mid-sized businesses, offering automation and workflow management solutions.
According to co-founder Jarryd Strydom, the platform helps legal teams manage tasks from multiple intake channels, such as Slack, email, and Jira, by routing and triaging work efficiently. The company’s focus is on relationship management and workflow automation, distinct from general legal reasoning systems like Harvey and Legora. Sandstone’s approach is built on the belief that specialized AI can better serve niche verticals by understanding granular workflows.
Strydom emphasized that Lightspeed’s investment was driven by confidence in vertical-specific AI, which requires a deep understanding of workflows to effectively deploy AI solutions. Sandstone will also compete with large AI labs expanding into legal tech, including Anthropic’s Claude for Legal, which recently added tools for case law searches and deposition preparation. The company plans to target legal departments in small and mid-sized businesses first, offering them tools to draft, review, and analyze legal work through custom workflows.
The broader legal tech market has seen rapid growth, with AI startups competing for market share, but Sandstone’s focus on in-house teams sets it apart from more generalized legal tools. The startup’s strategy is to provide value where broader AI deployments often struggle, by tailoring its solutions to the unique demands of in-house legal work.
Source: techcrunch
