Legal tech startup selected for economic mobility accelerator in NYC
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LawLaw, a legal tech platform soon to be based in Evansville, is one of 12 startups participating in the Techstars Economic Mobility Powered by Samvid Ventures accelerator in New York City. Techstars, a pre-seed venture capital firm, is running the three-month program that nurtures startups designing innovative solutions to generate greater economic mobility for low- and moderate-income Americans.
“[The accelerator is] a pretty solid fit for what we’re helping with and how it helps individuals who are dealing with a debt lawsuit and the downstream impact of these types of legal situations,” said Matt Rust, LawLaw’s founder.
Rust—an Evansville native who developed the concept of LawLaw in San Diego, California—is moving back to Evansville after the accelerator ends in December to grow the business.
“I’ve got such a strong support, family, friends, loved ones, everybody’s in Evansville,” said Rust. “I’ve always been a startup nerd, and an opportunity came up to work on startups full time. This was one of the winning ideas that was in my head that ended up taking the lead and is now the full primary focus.”
About LawLaw
LawLaw helps people who have been sued for a debt protect their rights and navigate the justice system.
“Around nine million people are going to be sued for a debt each year,” Rust said. “And those individuals aren’t receiving any legal help, whether they’re not able to afford it or it’s just not available to them. They’re left without a lot of options to help them navigate the judicial system and figure out what to do. And within those nine million who are sued, statistically, depending on the state, one half to three quarters of them will lose the case by default.”
Rust said he came up with the idea for the legal tech startup during his time as an attorney at a firm representing businesses.
“I had an opportunity to see how these situations played out. It was always interesting to me to see the different systems and processes and software that was available to businesses to navigate the justice system and the lack thereof for the individual consumer,” he said.
LawLaw went through several iterations at a startup studio called Launch Factory in San Diego plus early validation testing before Rust applied for and was accepted into the Techstars accelerator.
“It’s a bit of a badge of credibility, and it’s also a cosign of support in our mission,” said Rust. “What we’re doing is trying to make the system a little more accessible and improve the outcomes for some of these people who are dealing with a debt lawsuit.”
About Techstars and the accelerator
Techstars helps early stage companies succeed at a high percentage rate, according to managing director Keith Camhi. As one of the largest early-stage funders in the world, the company supports about 500 companies a year and provides extensive mentorship through a global network.
“We run about 40 or 50 programs a year. I’d say two thirds of them have a theme. We have everything from health care programs to fintech programs to Web3 workforce, all sorts of different categories in different cities,” Camhi said.
During accelerators, Techstars conducts workshops and invests $120,000 in the companies to help scale entrepreneurial visions into thriving businesses.
“For this particular program, all 12 companies are focused on some sort of solution that helps low- to moderate-income Americans get to a higher standard of living. And so a lot of our mentors find that to be quite impactful and want to see these companies be successful so they’re willing to volunteer and support them throughout the three months of the program,” Camhi said.
About 1% of applicants were admitted into the economic mobility accelerator. Eighty companies were interviewed at the beginning of the process.
“That was based on a combination of looking like it could be a promising company that could be successful as a business, and based on their potential social impact for low to moderate income Americans. So we looked at it with both lenses as a social impact focused accelerator,” said Camhi.
In the next phase, 40 startups received second interviews, 24 companies went before a screening commitee, and then the final 12 businesses, including LawLaw, were selected for the program.
“[Rust] is a founder who’s well positioned to run a successful company. He’s got the vision, he’s got the drive, he’s executing and he has the resilience to have what we think it takes to make it through a very challenging process of getting a company to succeed,” Camhi said.
‘Figuring out fundamental things’
The benefits for early-stage companies taking part in Techstars accelerators include building a network of corporate partners, investors and alumni as well as developing their business strategies.
“They’re off the ground, they’re starting to run, but they’re still figuring out fundamental things, like what should the product ultimately be, how am I going to best get it to market, and so on. So with that in mind, we put a lot of focus on helping them just nail down the strategy,” said Camhi.
Techstars also helps entrepreneurs raise money for their startups and form like-minded peer groups.
“This class-based program, with a dozen companies at a time of people going through a similar journey, even if it’s a different type of business, is powerful. They have people to commiserate with, people to trade ideas with, learn from, push each other,” Camhi said.
With Techstars’ help, Rust expects to create a robust business network and take LawLaw to the next level.
“The connections that the Techstars program is providing with regards to mentors, strategic mentors, potential strategic investors, as well as impact investors, are top notch,” said Rust. “The second component is helping lay the groundwork for LawLaw in terms of getting to pressure test the concept, the go-to-market and all of the strategic planning that needs to come into place to see us scale and succeed.”
Rust said he decided to relocate LawLaw from San Diego to southwest Indiana after completing the economic mobility accelerator because Evansville is home.
“The startup journey is interesting, and it’s exciting to be building something that helps individuals and consumers, and it’s doubly exciting to be able to head back home to Indiana to continue to build and see how that integrates within the community and what we can do on that front,” he said.
Camhi predicts Rust moving his business to Evansville will inspire other early stage entrepreneurs in the area.
“I find that startup ecosystems tend to feed off each other, so having folks like Matt relocating there and hopefully building what will be a thriving business there will hopefully become part of an ecosystem locally of other founders doing other interesting things. Having them feed off each other is invaluable,” said Camhi.