Harvey, a legal AI startup, has reportedly begun early IPO discussions

The idea of such a young startup entering public markets would have seemed unlikely a year ago. However, the landscape has shifted dramatically following SpaceX's record-setting IPO and anticipation that Anthropic could surpass that milestone with a listing potentially in the week before Thanksgiving. OpenAI is also reportedly considering a public offering as early as 2027. Industry analysts suggest that if Anthropic's debut goes well, it could open the floodgates for a new generation of fast-growing AI companies to test the waters of the public markets.

Harvey has rapidly emerged as one of the most prominent providers of AI-driven software for large law firms and corporate legal departments. In September, the company reported surpassing $400 million in annual recurring revenue, a metric that, while not matching Anthropic's reported $65 billion run rate, places Harvey in the vicinity of companies like Affirm, which generated $509 million in revenue for its fiscal year ahead of its 2020 IPO. For comparison, Snowflake reported $242 million in revenue for the first half of 2020 before its own public listing.

Investor interest in Harvey has intensified in recent months. This fall, the company secured $550 million in new funding in a round led by Diffusion and Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from institutional investors such as Goldman Sachs Alternatives, J.P. Morgan's Growth Equity Partners, Coatue, and T. Rowe Price. Such backers are commonly seen on a startup’s cap table as it approaches the public markets.

The company has also significantly expanded its executive team. Notable new hires include Steve Zad, former chief revenue officer at Rubrik, who played a key role in that company’s 2024 IPO, as well as former Google executive Keith Enright as chief strategy officer. Rachel Hepworth, who previously worked at Slack and Notion, joined as chief marketing officer, and Anique Drumright, from Rippling, is now chief product officer. Internal promotions have also been part of Harvey's growth strategy, with John LaBarre, formerly with Snowflake, named chief legal officer, and Katie Burke, who helped take HubSpot public, becoming chief operating officer. Alan Ghelberg has served as chief financial officer since 2024.

Legal technology has traditionally attracted skeptics among investors, given perceptions of a limited market of roughly 1.3 million U.S. lawyers and the legal industry's slow adoption of new technology. The arrival of large language models has changed that perception. Harvey’s founders, Winston Weinberg, a former lawyer, and Gabe Pereyra, who previously worked at Google DeepMind, began adapting this technology for legal work months before ChatGPT’s launch. Harvey now counts more than 3,500 customers, including 80 percent of the top 100 U.S. law firms and 20 percent of the Fortune 500. Recent enterprise wins include CVS Health and Lockheed Martin.

Competitors are also drawing substantial investments. Legora, a close rival, raised $550 million last month at an $8.8 billion valuation. For Harvey, its relationship with Latham & Watkins may play a pivotal role if it proceeds toward an IPO. Latham is not only adopting Harvey’s technology across its operations, but is also working with the company to develop custom tools for its fund formation practice. Latham & Watkins has significant experience advising on large IPOs, having supported 186 offerings that raised over $101 billion since 2016, according to Deal Point Data.

As Harvey and its investors gauge the evolving IPO market, the legal AI company is positioning itself among a select group of high-growth startups that could soon redefine how and when new tech companies enter the public markets.