For years, Europe’s startup ecosystem has been weighed down not by a lack of ideas or talent, but by the slow grind of legal bureaucracy. Openlaw is now stepping in to rewrite that narrative. The European legaltech platform has raised $3.3 million in seed funding for its flagship product beglaubigt.de, aiming to transform how companies are formed and managed across the continent.
Strong Backing from Global Investors
The funding round brings together an impressive mix of global investors and experienced founders. Among them is Jawed Karim through Y Ventures, alongside Moonfire Ventures founded by Mattias Ljungman. Additional participants include Zeno Ventures, Combination VC, Orange Collective, and a network of prominent angel investors, including several Y Combinator alumni.
Openlaw itself is part of the Y Combinator F24 batch, further underlining its credibility within the global startup ecosystem.
Europe’s Fragmented Legal Landscape
While launching a company in the United States can take as little as a day, Europe presents a far more complex picture. Founders must navigate 27 national legal systems and dozens of corporate structures. In major markets such as Germany, France, and Spain, notarisation remains mandatory, adding layers of delay and complexity.
Germany, in particular, highlights the challenge. Setting up a GmbH can take six to eight weeks, involving multiple agencies, extensive paperwork, and unclear processes. According to the DIHK Report 2025, nearly 60 percent of founders are dissatisfied with Germany as a business location, with many calling for simpler and faster regulation.
Beyond Incorporation Challenges
The difficulty does not end once a company is formed. Entrepreneurs must still deal with tax registrations, commercial register entries, business addresses, and ongoing administrative requirements. These processes remain fragmented and inconsistent across jurisdictions, creating additional hurdles for scaling businesses.
Initiatives like the EU Inc proposal aim to streamline incorporation, but the broader operational infrastructure remains largely untouched. Openlaw is positioning itself to fill this gap by building a unified digital layer that supports founders throughout their journey.
beglaubigt.de: A Digital Notary Infrastructure
Openlaw’s German platform beglaubigt.de is already demonstrating how this transformation can work in practice. The platform digitises the entire incorporation process, covering document preparation, notary appointments, and register filings.
What traditionally took up to eight weeks can now be completed in as little as three days. The platform collaborates with around 300 notary offices, managing scheduling, administration, and documentation while ensuring that legal counsel and notarisation remain with certified professionals.
In less than a year, beglaubigt.de has served more than 25,000 customers and partnered with well known fintech and business platforms such as Qonto, Holvi, and Sevdesk.
Through Germany’s first fully automated incorporation API, founders can now initiate the entire process directly from their Qonto account without switching platforms, significantly reducing friction.
Founders with Firsthand Experience
Openlaw was created by entrepreneurs who experienced these challenges themselves. CEO Alexander Sporenberg was part of the founding team at Razor Group, which reached a $1.7 billion valuation in just 15 months. During rapid expansion and numerous acquisitions, he encountered how legal bottlenecks could slow growth.
CPO Felix Gerlach previously founded Passbase, which was acquired by Parallel Markets in 2023. His background in building scalable digital infrastructure complements Openlaw’s vision.
Expanding Across Europe
With the new funding, Openlaw plans to enhance beglaubigt.de by expanding beyond GmbH, UG, and GbR formations. The platform will soon include additional register processes, tax optimisation structures, and integrated bookkeeping services.
Starting in Germany, widely seen as Europe’s most complex regulatory market, Openlaw aims to expand its infrastructure across other European countries. By doing so, it hopes to remove one of the biggest barriers to entrepreneurship in the region.
As Europe continues to push for innovation led growth, platforms like Openlaw could play a crucial role in ensuring that bureaucracy no longer stands in the way of building the next generation of global companies.