Buying commercial property or a home often feels like stepping back in time. The process is slow, buried in paperwork, and relies on checks that haven’t changed much in a century. Orbital aims to fix this broken system. The company just secured $60 million in fresh capital to replace manual legal grunt work with smart, purpose-built artificial intelligence.
Big Backing for a Specific Problem
Orbital has successfully closed a Series B funding round valued at $60 million. This significant injection of capital was led by Brighton Park Capital, a firm known for backing growth-stage software companies. The round also saw participation from a robust list of investors who understand the intricacies of both property and law.
The investor list reads like a who’s who of the sector. It includes REV, The LegalTech Fund, Moderne Ventures, and the Grosvenor Group. Previous backers are also doubling down on their belief in Orbital. JLL Spark, Outward, and Seedcamp all returned to participate in this round.
This funding is not just about keeping the lights on. It represents a massive vote of confidence in the future of “LegalTech.” While generic AI tools are making headlines, investors are clearly betting on specialized engines that solve boring, complex, and high-value problems. Real estate law fits that description perfectly.
Key Financial Highlights:
- Total Raised: $60 Million (Series B)
- Lead Investor: Brighton Park Capital
- Key Participants: JLL Spark, Grosvenor Group, Moderne Ventures
- Primary Goal: Expansion into the US market and product development
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Orbital CEO Will Pearce real estate legal tech funding
Why General AI Isn’t Enough for Property
You might wonder why lawyers cannot simply use ChatGPT to review a lease. The answer lies in the unique nature of real estate. Property law is not just about text. It is about physical space, maps, historical records, and complex title deeds that vary wildly from one region to another.
Orbital was founded in 2018 by Will Pearce and Ed Boulle. Pearce knows the pain of this industry firsthand. He previously worked as a real estate lawyer at a top firm. He realized that highly paid professionals were spending thousands of hours reading documents that an intelligent machine could process in seconds.
The company distinguishes itself by combining generative AI with spatial data. Their platform does not just read words. It understands property boundaries, visualizes risks on maps, and cross-references legal text with public records. This creates a “domain-specific” AI that is far more accurate for this sector than a general chatbot.
What Orbital actually does:
- Automates Due Diligence: It scans thousands of pages of title deeds and leases to flag risks.
- Visualizes Data: It turns legal text into visual maps that are easier for investors to understand.
- Speeds Up Closings: What used to take weeks of manual reading can now happen much faster.
Will Pearce, CEO of Orbital, highlighted the urgency of this shift:
“Although real estate is the world’s largest asset class, the legal processes that support it are still largely manual, fragmented, and opaque, with many practices having changed little for more than a century.”
Bringing British Tech to American Soil
A major portion of this $60 million war chest is earmarked for geographic expansion. Orbital is currently a dominant player in the UK, but the United States represents a much larger and more complex opportunity.
The US real estate market is fragmented. Each state has different laws, and the title insurance industry is massive. Orbital plans to navigate this by establishing a physical presence on the ground. The company has announced plans to open a dedicated office in New York in 2025.
This move is strategic. New York is the beating heart of global commercial real estate. By being there, Orbital can work directly with the massive law firms and multinational corporations that manage billions of dollars in property assets.
The company plans to hire aggressively. They are looking to build a team that understands the nuances of US property law. The goal is to create additional hubs across the US to support customers in different time zones.
The Future of the Legal Workspace
The vision for Orbital goes beyond just reviewing documents. They want to build a single, secure digital workspace where the entire transaction lives. Currently, a property deal involves dozens of emails, PDF attachments, phone calls, and spreadsheets. It is messy and insecure.
Orbital wants to centralize this. They aim to support the “full asset lifecycle.” This means their AI would be useful not just when you buy a building, but while you manage it, lease it out, and eventually sell it.
The platform is already processing hundreds of thousands of transactions annually. Their client list includes global law firms and major property developers. With this new funding, they can push their R&D further. We can expect deeper integration of AI agents that can handle even more autonomous tasks.
Imagine a world where a lawyer can ask the software, “Show me all properties in our portfolio that have a break clause in 2026 and are located in a flood zone.” Orbital is making that level of instant insight a reality.
While some fear AI will replace lawyers, the reality is likely different. It will replace the drudgery. Lawyers can stop being professional readers and start being strategic advisors. This shift benefits everyone, from the law firm partner to the person waiting to get the keys to their new home.
The real estate industry has been slow to adopt technology. It holds onto tradition tightly. But with $60 million in the bank and a tool that solves a genuine pain point, Orbital is poised to force a necessary evolution. The days of manual due diligence are numbered.
