Liam Brown, CEO, Elevate Services. Courtesy photo.

Alternative legal service provider Elevate Services announced Monday that it has secured $25 million in funding from Los Angeles-based private equity fund Kayne Partner, bringing the company's total capital deployed to $60 million. Elevate said it plans to use the additional funding to scale operations to meet increasing customer demand and enhance its Cael enterprise legal management software.

Elevate has seen massive growth in the past several months, acquiring Yerra Solutions, LexPredict, and Sumati Group to expand the company's services in technology, consulting and general legal services. Those acquisitions have also spearheaded the company's growth in foreign markets, particularly in the U.K. after acquiring legal resourcing firm Halebury, and in Asia after entering Hong Kong by acquiring flexible lawyering service provider Cognatio Law.

The result is a company that it says has seen an average of 65 percent growth per year for the past five years, with 2019 sales forecasted to exceed $75 million. In a press release announcing the acquisition, Elevate founder and executive chairman Liam Brown noted, "This investment will support our future growth plans, continuing the momentum created by our series of recent acquisitions."

The alternative legal service provider (ALSP) market itself has exploded in recent years. A January 2019 report from Thomson Reuters found the total ALSP market to be at $10.7 billion in 2017, with expected 25 percent annualized growth rate "over the next few years." The percentage of large law firms that use ALSPs for at least one service, including e-discovery, document review, legal research or litigation support, rose to 87 percent in 2018, up from 56 percent in 2016.

That growth is one reason why one of the largest ALSPs, Axiom, announced its intentions to go public in February 2019. Brown has also considered the possibility for Elevate, telling LTN at the time of the Yerra acquisition, "We'd rather bring in public company capital so that the management team can continue to control the strategy and direction and growth of the business."

But for now, the company will continue its investment in core operations and technology businesses through private funding. In a separate conversation with LTN in March, Brown said he wants Elevate to help law firms overcome their inability to invest in expensive technologies and resources that in-house clients increasingly desire.

"If you're a midsized firm, are you going to invest in AI and data science? Chances are you're not, but we can provide that for you," Brown said. "Are you going to invest in project management so you can provide what you said you would on time and on profit? We can provide that technology for you."