I get a lot of press pitches from companies offering services to founders. One of the most compelling of late is SeedLegals, a legaltech platform designed to simplify and accelerate the fundraising and legal processes for startups and investors.
I spoke to CEO and co-founder Anthony Rose to learn more about how SeedLegals grew into a legal engine powering nearly half of all new UK startups, actionable tips that legaltech startups — heck all startups — can apply to expand their customer base, and what founders consistently get wrong about fundraising.
The SeedLegals platform combines automation with expert support, reducing the time and cost associated with traditional legal services.
A one-stop legal platform for founders and investors
Founded in 2016 by Anthony Rose, Laurent Laffy, and Anthony Drogon, the company offers an all-in-one solution for managing legal documents, equity, and compliance needs throughout a startup’s lifecycle.
For founders, the platform enables the creation of essential startup contracts such as founder agreements and employment contracts, management of cap tables and share option schemes, and application for SEIS/EIS tax relief in the UK.
It also supports funding rounds through tools like SeedSAFE (a UK variant of SAFE agreements) or traditional priced rounds, while offering access to legal advisory services and R&D tax credit support.
For investors, SeedLegals streamlines deal execution with tailored proposals, facilitates the efficient acquisition of SEIS/EIS tax relief certificates, and offers tools to manage investment portfolios with up-to-date shareholding information and exit scenario modeling.
Over 60,000 companies have used its services, creating more than 500,000 legal documents.
From BBC iPlayer to serial entrepreneurship
Rose’s career spans a range of transformative technologies, including 3D graphics, peer-to-peer music, internet video, social TV, and online communities. In 2015, he founded 6Tribes, a platform for interest-based communities, which was acquired in under a year. Before that, he co-founded Beamly, a social and content network for television, acquired by Coty in 2015.
Often referred to as “the man behind BBC iPlayer,” Rose led the iPlayer and other BBC digital services from 2007 to 2010, guiding the platform from pre-launch to widespread success. He also holds patents in areas such as distributed online rewards, content discovery, and interactive television.
It all began with a party in Rome
Rose met co-founder and former investor Laurent Laffy in Rome at a party hosted by a previous investor. Laffy's portfolio of 40+ startups includes Lastminute, Secret Escapes, and Graze.
He shared:
“He’s an ex-VC and serial angel investor who felt the same—lawyers are slow, expensive, and often make mistakes.
He had already started developing the SeedLegals idea and needed someone to build it. I'm a tech and product guy, we met again in London, and the rest is history.”
The company has grown to a team of 160, and today, around half of all new startups in the UK use the SeedLegals platform, with approximately one-third of all early-stage fundraising in the country conducted through it.
Built by founders, not disillusioned lawyers
According to Rose, SeedLegals provides all the essential legal tools — funding agreements, cap tables, founder agreements, and more.
“But just as importantly, we offer extensive educational content. Founders often don’t know where to begin with a US expansion, and our resources help them understand things like hiring in New York,doing a Delaware flip, or local salary expectations.”
According to Rose, a lot of legaltech startups are built by disillusioned lawyers. Their instinct is to sell to law firms. But law firms are often tech laggards, and they bill by the hour, so anything that reduces billing hours threatens their business model.
He asserts:
“SeedLegals is different. We aren’t built by lawyers, and we don’t sell to law firms — we’re built for founders. I like to say we always ask: “What would a law firm do?” and then do the opposite.”
Instead of hourly billing, the company offers fixed prices with unlimited support. Instead of just handing over legal documents, it provides strategy sessions, pitch deck advice, SEIS/EIS support, data insights on deal terms, and community events.
“We’re a platform to help you build your company, not just do your legal paperwork.”
The value of community engagement
Further, Rose attributes SeedLegals success to community-led growth.
Startups are naturally community-oriented: “they attend the same events, join WhatsApp or Facebook groups, read the same blogs. If your target audience exists in communities, and you’re present and genuinely helpful, growth comes organically.”
SeedLegals is active at events, provides webinars, publishes helpful content and engages directly with founders.
“I spend much of my time just advising founders — not selling, just helping. That builds trust, and people spread the word.
Compare that with, say, R&D tax credits. That market has no community. So for that, you need SEO, paid ads, and outbound sales. You have to adjust your growth strategy based on your audience.”
Why you should form in the UK, and how Delaware flips don’t have to cost $25K
According to Rose, the UK is an amazing place to start a business—incorporation costs £50, it takes 30 minutes, and there are generous tax breaks. So, most UK startups raise locally first.
But he contends that if you’re in Eastern Europe, France, or Germany, the investor scene is smaller and less accessible.
“Non-local investors often won’t invest in, say, a Bulgarian or Estonian company. So those founders often incorporate in the UK or the US from the start.
Delaware incorporation has always been complex and expensive. Law firms will charge $25,000+ for a Flip. We want to reduce that to $5,000 and make the whole process simpler and content-driven.”
The biggest legal mistakes startups make
The number one legal mistake Rose sees startups make is not having a proper founder agreement.
“Two people meet at a pub, start building something, and later one of them leaves. If there's no agreement with share vesting and IP assignment, the whole business can fall apart.
Second, many founders think they’ll raise money from VCs right away. But unless you have revenue, a VC will say, “Come back later.”
Rose contends that most early-stage capital isn't raised in a traditional “funding round” anymore.
Early-stage rounds are usually raised from angel investors, particularly in the UK, where tax incentives like SEIS and EIS are major motivators.
“It’s raised through instruments like the SeedFAST (UK) or SAFE (US). These let you raise money incrementally, without setting a valuation upfront—faster and more flexible”
Why fundraising is like a Netflix series
Rose believes that founders need to forget the myth of pitching a VC at an event and walking away with a check.
He likens fundraising to a Netflix series:
“Episode one is a LinkedIn message. Episode two is a call. By episode five, you might get a check.
You need a strategy. Start with getting SEIS advance assurance if you're in the UK. Use tools like SeedFAST to close early investors without delays. Learn how to find and approach angels. We’ve created video guides on exactly that.
And above all, demystify the process. Fundraising isn’t magic—it’s a repeatable playbook. The hardest part is finding investors. The rest is just execution.”
While established in the UK, SeedLegals has expanded its services to other regions, including the United States, France, Ireland, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
Lead image: Anthony Rose, CEO and co-founder of SeedLegals. Photo: uncredited.
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