Avvo, a new legal services start-up
 |
Avvo is a new Seattle start-up that wants to help people deal with legal issues. The company is still secretive, but the idea is to give anyone who needs a lawyer the tools and information to help them through the process. It can be “an incredibly scary and frightening situation,” says Mark Britton, chief executive of Avvo.
Silicon Valley venture capital firm Benchmark Capital has invested $3 million. It is the first investment by Rich Barton, who joined Benchmark as a venture partner last year to scout for deals in Seattle. (Yes, he’s the same guy who is chairman and chief executive of Zillow, the company that has shaken up the real estate market by providing home valuations online.)
Barton founded and served as chief executive officer at Expedia until 2003. That’s where he got to know CEO Britton. Britton was Expedia’s general counsel.
There are at least two other Web companies serving the legal space, Lawyers.com and FindLaw.
Barton said he is scratching his head about why this space hasn’t been gone after more aggressively.
Benchmark can probably identify with headaches caused by the legal process. The firm and its portfolio companies have had to deal with their fair share of lawsuits. And as an aside, we note that Benchmark partner Andy Rachleff donated money to a special fund to the Northern California Innocence Project, which works on behalf of people who are wrongly convicted. He did so to honor Frank Quattrone, the Silicon Valley banker who said he was unfairly convicted, and recommended the NCIP to his friends as a worthy project to fund.
Next Story: SoonR, the mobile-to-PC company, raises $4 million
Previous Story: Tuesday essentials: Pure Digital, Friendster CEOs & other fundings
About the Author, Matt Marshall
Matt launched VentureBeat in September of 2006, with the realization that no one else was covering the entrepreneurial and tech innovation scene with the velocity or depth that he was. Prior to founding VentureBeat, he covered venture capital for the San Jose Mercury News from 2001 to 2006. In 2002, Matt was awarded "Journalist of the Year" by the Northern California Society of Professional Journalists. Prior to working at the Merc, he was a correspondent for the Wall Street Journal in Bonn, Germany from 1995 to 1998, and a writer for the Washington Post in 1994. Matt holds a PhD in Government and an MA in German and European Studies from Georgetown University. In addition to VentureBeat, Matt is also the Executive Producer of DEMO, the leading launchpad event for emerging technologies.
