Blue J Legal, a legal tech startup co-founded by Benjamin Alarie, a professor in the University Toronto's Faculty of Law, has raised US$122 million (CAD$167 million) to accelerate the growth of its AI-powered tax chatbot.
The funding round, led by U.S. venture capital firms Sapphire Ventures and Oak HC/FT, values the company at more than US$300 million, said the Globe and Mail , citing filings with Canadian securities regulators.
The Osler chair of business law, Alarie launched Blue J in 2015 along with two other Faculty of Law professors. Initially focused on helping lawyers and accountants navigate complex tax questions using predictive analytics , the company relaunched its product in 2023 after integrating large language model technology from OpenAI, enabling users to receive answers to tax queries in seconds, the Globe noted.
The startup's platform is now used by major firms and the Canada Revenue Agency, and has expanded into the U.S. and U.K. markets, according to the Globe.
"This is really working," Alarie told the Globe in January. "We have really good product-market fit."
