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New model law firm Arceus raises $17m. It's raining new model law firms! And here is Arceus, which launched this year and has just announced a $17 million fundraise led by Greycroft. And yep, it's an MSO. And yep, it 'combines licensed attorneys with AI agents and proprietary software to deliver fast legal services'. And also yep, it focuses on 'commercial legal work, reviewing, drafting and negotiating contracts at a flat price', often for startups and scale-ups. Plus, it says that 'standard reviews are guaranteed within eight hours or the review is free' - which is nice. And also, as with many others now, they've built some of their own software. In this case it's a proprietary operating system, CounselOS. They said that this gives 'Arceus attorneys context on a company's business, preferences, agreements, prior decisions and negotiation history. It connects to the platforms where companies already work, including HubSpot, Salesforce, Gmail and Slack, to gather context, identify issues and route each matter to the right attorney'. Arceus's San Francisco-based Founder and CEO, Mac Liu, commented: 'I went through multiple law firms and kept running into the same problems with missed deadlines, constant back-and-forth and bills that came in higher than expected. Legal became one of the most frustrating parts of the business.' - Advertisement - 'The billable-hour model just didn't make sense to me because firms are incentivized to take longer,' he added. 'We started Arceus because we believe every business deserves a better law firm that always puts the client first and sets a new standard for speed, responsiveness, transparency and service.' And Mark Terbeek, Partner at Greycroft, concluded: 'Most of the legal AI market is focused on selling better software to existing law firms. We believe Arceus is taking on a much bigger opportunity by rebuilding the law firm itself. Its flat-fee model and focus on significantly faster turnaround times are designed to meet the needs of fast-moving companies.' Is this is a big deal? Well, new model law firms are appearing so frequently now they're almost out-doing the legal AI companies in terms of their cadence - and that's quite something. In this case, what would have seemed like a very unusual format is today almost the 'state of the art' for NewMods, e.g. MSO, speed of work, flat fees, they carry the risk, AI and good lawyers and more. It's hard to believe that in the space of about nine months, this format has become 'normal' for an ever-growing number of law firms in the US, UK and now Europe. And it should be underlined: they are law firms - just with a novel structure and a focus on making AI do as much as it can. What makes Arceus stand out from some peers is that they've raised $17m so early. Other NewMods have also raised, but not that many have raised this much at the start. Congratulations and AL looks forward to seeing this new model's growth amid its many peers. Legal Innovators UK - Nov 4 and 5 / Legal Innovators New York - Nov 17 and 18 Cosmonauts have now opened Express Registration for Legal Innovators UK and New York. This means that if you are at a law firm or at an inhouse legal team you can now zoom directly to your tickets - which are complimentary as long as you qualify. For London - Nov 4 and 5, at the Minster Building, see here: And, for New York - Nov 17 and 18 - Midtown, please see here:

Arceus combines a law firm with software. The bet is that in-house legal teams don't want another tool to manage; they want the work done faster.

Podcaster Sammi Cohen is launching 'Social Commerce Network,' a live business show modeled on TBPN. Published on September 23, 2026 Business and culture podcaster Sammi Cohen is launching "Social Commerce Network" (SCN), a livestreamed business news show that will air three times a week across YouTube, X, TikTok and Instagram, with a format she says is inspired by "TBPN," the tech talk show OpenAI acquired this spring. As Variety reported, SCN debuts October 6 and will broadcast Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Pacific from a new studio in Los Angeles' Sawtelle neighborhood. Cohen will co-host alongside Alaina Hartley, a former Greycroft principal and Bain & Co. consultant who now runs the Santa Monica consumer-brands consultancy Dream Hunter. Each broadcast will split into two halves, opening with breaking news before moving into short-form interviews with CEOs and other decision-makers across consumer businesses, tech, fintech, retail, CPG and beauty. "Think CNBC for the generation that gets their news on their phone," Cohen told Variety. "It's a news show for the generation that is getting their news on social media." Cohen has built an audience of more than 500,000 followers across platforms, including 250,000 on Instagram and 107,000 on YouTube, largely through short-form video and her weekly podcast "Social Currency," which she plans to continue alongside SCN. She said her following skews roughly 70% women, and she expects SCN's audience to follow suit, with coverage weighted toward women-led enterprises. Cohen named "TBPN" directly as a reference point. "I think what 'TBPN' has done was brilliant," she said. "They knew exactly what their target audience was and created a media platform to serve this audience." "TBPN," launched in late 2024 by entrepreneurs John Coogan and Jordi Hays, built a similar live-show format around tech, business and AI coverage before OpenAI acquired it in April in what the company called its first media acquisition. The show generated about $5 million in ad revenue in 2025 and was on track to exceed $30 million in 2026 at the time of the deal, with sponsors including Ramp, Plaid and Google's Gemini, despite a YouTube subscriber base of just 58,000. OpenAI has said "TBPN" will retain full editorial independence under the acquisition. Cohen has lined up sponsors across tech, fintech, hospitality, creator media and marketing to fund SCN's launch but declined to name them, saying they would be treated as partners in building the show rather than simple advertisers. She said the first two months will focus on studying the audience SCN attracts and adjusting coverage accordingly. Asked why now, Cohen pointed to a shift in appetite for media formats. "As all forms of communication become automated, people are yearning for a human touch in media, and there's nothing more human than live," she told Variety, adding that SCN will build in live viewer feedback and questions during broadcasts. "We are seeing this incredible opportunity for creators like me to make their own media businesses."