Clio Announces Centaur Status, Joining Elusive $100M ARR Club

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Jun 09, 2022, 06:00 ET

Clio's rapid innovation and support for the legal industry has secured its position as a market leader, furthering the company's goal of becoming an enduring, 100-year company.

BURNABY, BC, June 9, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Clio, the world's leading provider of cloud-based legal technology, is Canada's first legal technology company to achieve centaur status, a title reserved for private SaaS companies that achieve more than US$100 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR). To date, approximately 150 companies globally have passed this threshold, making this designation seven times rarer than the now plentiful tech unicorn.

The 2022 State of the Cloud Report, recently produced by Bessemer Venture Partners, cited the enduring qualities of centaur companies with product-market fit, scaleable GTM, and a growing customer base amid changing market conditions. In an era where investors consistently apply significant multiple advantages to company valuations, the centaur status offers a much more salient perspective on company valuations in respect to today's index of public scale companies.

The distinction underscores Clio's global leadership in the legal industry's growing adoption of cloud-based solutions as part of its digital transformation.

"Our centaur designation is just one lens to measure our success in the market, but in the context of today's tech economy it signals much more," said Jack Newton, CEO, and Founder of Clio. "Our customers prioritize stability and sustainability in their technology partners. With a wave of market volatility and consolidation happening in this industry, Clio is the steady exception our customers can count on through it all."

Clio has led the legal industry's digital transformation with its first-of-its-kind, cloud-based legal software and its approach to modern legal practice. In 2021, the company was also the first legal practice management platform to earn unicorn status with a Series E funding valuation of US $1.6 billion.

Clio has since grown its company and product investment, prioritizing the success of its customers with additional products and features that solve the pain points of today and the client expectations of tomorrow. In the last six months, it has focused on the core tenets of billing and payments, operational efficiency, and centralized client experiences to make the lives of legal professionals and their clients easier.

Product Innovation Highlights

Clio Payments: An all-new payments suite built into Clio Manage that enables the seamless collection of credit, debit, and eCheck payments and comes with complete fee and reporting transparency.
Clio Drive: A virtual drive that allows legal professionals to conveniently create, access, edit, store, and collaborate on documents from their desktop while keeping it all securely stored in Clio's cloud.
Clio for Clients: A desktop- and mobile-accessible application from which attorneys and legal clients securely communicate, collaborate, and share documents and case updates.
Outlook Add-In: A redesigned connection between Clio Manage and Microsoft Outlook that makes storing, organizing, and accessing case-related email activity effortless and convenient.
Clio Manage & Clio Grow Integration: A new means to easily toggle between solutions and seamlessly update contact and case details in real time.
Bill Personalization: New ways to customize bills with payment-provoking personalization, generate them in a multitude of ways, and send them to clients through more intuitive workflows.
Lawyaw Court Form Libraries: An expanded collection of digital court form offerings that now includes 18 states.
HIPAA Compliance: Store and process protected health information in a HIPAA-compliant manner using Clio.

Company Highlights

Funding milestones: Raised $386 million in capital since 2008, including a US$250 million venture capital financing round, which was the largest for a Canadian company at the time in 2019, and a Series E funding round of US$110 million, valuing the company at US$1.6 billion in 2021.
Social giving: Donated over $40 million to social impact initiatives including Academic Access for legal students and COVID-19 legal relief programs.
Investment portfolio: Contributed to Proof's $7M Series A funding round led by Blue Heron Capital and LegalTech Fund by way of Clio Ventures, as well as a $100,000 investment in Fidu as part of the most recent Launch//Code Developer Contest.
Award-winning customer support and security infrastructure: Set new standards with the industry's fastest response times, live product support available 24/5, and a dedicated in-house cybersecurity team operating 24/7/365.
Employee growth and success: Increased capacity to innovate rapidly with the addition of 250+ staff since January 2022 and five global offices reopened in a flexible, remote, and hybrid work model.
Executive leadership: Expanded C-suite to support the scaling of Clio's products and company with leaders from high growth companies like Uber, Airbnb, Lightspeed, ACTIVE Network, Shopify, and Zynga, setting the tone for Clio's next stage of growth.
Leading industry initiatives and events: Announced the 10th annual worldwide Clio Cloud Conference, which is now the most widely attended legal event in North America.

Recent Accolades

G2 Leader, Legal Practice Management, Spring 2022
Deloitte Best Managed Company, Gold Standard, 2022
Canada's Top Employer for Young People, 2022
BC Top Employer, 2022
Ireland Great Place to Work, 2022
Canada's Top 100 Employers, 2021
Fast Company World's Most Innovative Companies, 2021

"Achieving centaur status is a testament to what our customers already know best: Clio builds for long-term success," said Newton. "Building an enduring, 100-year company takes financial discipline, an unwavering focus on the success of our customers, and the durability to withstand swift changes in the market. We're incredibly proud of this accomplishment, which is one more important milestone in Clio's growth story."

About Clio

Clio is transforming the legal experience for all by creating the world's leading cloud-based technologies for law firms—to keep lawyers and their clients better connected throughout the legal process. Firms of all sizes and practice areas use Clio products—Clio Manage, Clio Grow, and Lawyaw—to manage firm operations, streamline billing and payments, automate legal documents, and improve client experiences. Following its US$250M Series D funding, led by TCV and JMI Equity, and its US$110M Series E investment, led by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. and OMERS Growth Equity, Clio has made history by becoming the first legal practice management unicorn in the world. Learn more at clio.com.

SOURCE Clio