Fixed-fee legal venture LawVest has posted a loss of £3.2m for its first 16 months of trading, as the DLA Piper-backed business gears up to convert a "multimillion-pound sales pipeline".

The accounts, which cover the period from the company's launch in February 2011 to 30 September 2012, show it took in revenues of £170,036 against costs of £431,986, with £1.2m spent on sales and marketing and £1.7m on administrative expenses.

LawVest, the holding company of Riverview Law, is headed up by CEO Karl Chapman and COO Adam Shutkever, while DLA holds a 21% stake in the business. DLA global co-chief executive officer Nigel Knowles also owns a small personal stake along with a number of other senior DLA partners.

Riverview Law focuses on volume fixed-fee work, handled via two arms of the business – Riverview Solicitors and Riverview Chambers.

Chapman told Legal Week the loss had been expected, with the business still in the early stages of development. He pointed to a multimillion-pound sales pipeline as evidence that the firm was moving in the right direction.

"As you'd expect, during the set-up phase there's been a heavy investment in creating our infrastructure and building the Riverview brand so that we're positioned correctly in the market," said Chapman.

"Since the year end we've won a number of new contracts and we expect more this year as we convert our multimillion-pound sales pipeline. Expect a dramatic increase in sales in our report next year."

A major recipient of the investment made by LawVest is business advisory company AdviserPlus Business Solutions, which received £1.5m in fees. Chapman is a non-executive director of AdviserPlus, while the business also owns around a 20% shareholding in LawVest.

Chapman (pictured) commented: "AdviserPlus was the founding shareholder, it set up Riverview Law. At the outset it provided a lot of services, from recruitment to IT, that helped us manage our fixed and variable costs effectively."

The accounts also show that a warrant has been issued allowing an unnamed holder to subscribe for 11,959 shares in the company at £50 per share – totalling almost £600,000 in value. The warrant can be exercised at any point until 2 November 2019. Chapman said the warrant had been issued to a set of advisers which helped establish the business.

The news comes after Riverview this March revealed it plans to double its headcount over the next 12 months and increase its international footprint by opening offices in emerging markets.