Endorsed by industry giants, netLex helps enterprises manage their contracts more efficiently, automate workflows, and gain critical insights into their contractual obligations and rights
Belo Horizonte, July 17th 2024 – netLex, the leading Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) platform in Latin America, today announced the closing of a $24 million growth funding round led by Riverwood Capital. This investment will enhance product development and innovation, further consolidating its position as the market leader.
This is the largest investment to-date in a CLM company in Latin America. "We will use the capital to continue bringing innovations to our clients, focusing on artificial intelligence to optimize all stages of the contract lifecycle," said Flávio Ribeiro, CEO and founder of netLex.
netLex is the day-to-day software used by legal, procurement, and sales teams to manage all contracts of a company, from NDAs, service agreements, sales contracts and dozens of other types of documents. The platform enhances the entire contract process by assisting in contract creation with standardized templates, automating approval workflows, and facilitating real-time collaboration and negotiation. It provides a secure repository for contract storage, ensures compliance with regulatory requirements, integrates with e-signature solutions for seamless execution, and manages key contract milestones and obligations.
The adoption of CLM solutions across organizations is growing fast given increasing emphasis on automation, governance, compliance, and risk control within legal departments and other functions, such as procurement and operations. A CLM solution allows different departments to have more independence and agility to execute their routines while providing full visibility, monitoring, and compliance to legal departments, with minimized administrative costs.
netLex is the leading CLM player in Latin America, serving over 200 enterprises and mid-market customers with a robust and flexible platform that caters to the most sophisticated companies in the region, such as Ambev, Samsung, iFood, and Localiza, with more than 100 clients among the 500 largest companies in Brazil. netLex has developed a world-class solution that has already allowed the company to expand beyond Brazil, with growing a presence in countries such as Colombia, Argentina, Chile, USA, England, Spain, France, and Portugal.
The investment will allow netLex to accelerate its product development roadmap and launch new solutions for legal, sell-side, and buy-side applications. The company also plans to expand its presence in markets outside of Brazil.
"We are very excited to partner with netLex to help companies across Latin America accelerate their automation and increase productivity; enterprises will be able to do more with less, and netLex’s platform is leading the wave in terms of innovation, digitalization, and governance across the legal functions,” said Francisco Alvarez-Demalde, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Riverwood Capital. “We believe that contracts are at the center of a major transformation through digitalization and AI, which will accelerate the adoption of CLM solutions."
Riverwood Capital’s Gustavo Pinheiro will join Netlex’s Board of Directors and added: "netLex offers a world-class product that has earned the trust of the largest companies in Brazil – we are thrilled to partner with this exceptional team as they expand to new markets and add powerful functionality to their platform."
According to Ribeiro, “Every company uses contracts to interact with the world, whether selling services or hiring suppliers. Contracts are the ‘rules of the game’ that govern these relationships. Well-drafted and managed contracts enable more efficient business operations.”
“Contracts have a lifecycle that includes formalization, management, and renewal or termination. Each stage presents significant challenges. Drafting can be time-consuming, negotiating complex, and managing rights and obligations costly,” said Wagner Possas, COO of netLex.
On average, companies lose 9% of their revenue due to poor contract management.
"In large enterprises, these difficulties are even more pronounced. Contracts might start in Sales, move to Legal, Operations, and then Finance, with each department using different systems that don't integrate efficiently,” added Possas.
netLex addresses these problems by managing contracts end-to-end, from request to termination. "Our platform allows centralized contract management, addressing various use cases and significantly increasing productivity,” added Ribeiro.
The company believes that artificial intelligence will be a game changer for the CLM space, impacting dramatically how contracts are negotiated and managed. “Today there is a lot of repetitive work that will be completely changed by AI,” said Ribeiro. “The investment in AI tools will help our clients save millions of dollars and enhance overall contract compliance.”
About netLex
Founded in 2014, netLex is a leading Contract Lifecycle Management platform, trusted by the largest organizations in Brazil and globally. By providing cutting-edge solutions that enhance legal visibility, compliance, and efficiency, netLex helps clients manage their contracts more effectively and gain critical insights into their contractual obligations and rights.
About Riverwood
Riverwood Capital invests in high-growth companies in the technology and technology-enabled industries. Riverwood offers a unique combination of operational, strategic, technology, and financial insight to portfolio companies that typically need growth capital and expertise to scale on a global basis. The firm seeks to invest in established businesses with a proven technology and business model, and the proper fit in terms of culture and values. Riverwood was founded in 2008 and has had the opportunity to invest in and support over 80 companies since inception. The Firm has offices in Menlo Park, CA; Miami, FL; New York, NY; and São Paulo, Brazil. Please visit www.riverwoodcapital.com.
