Docusign announced an agreement to acquire Lexion for $165 million, signaling plans to integrate the Seattle-based company’s AI-powered contract management technology into its Intelligent Agreement Management Platform.
The deal looks to be a successful exit for Lexion, which got its start in 2018 after co-founders Gaurav Oberoi (CEO), Emad Elwany (CTO), and James Baird (principal architect) met at the Allen Institute for AI in Seattle.
Lexion raised about $36 million since its founding, including a $20 million round in April 2023, after tripling its revenue in 2022. After focusing initially on helping legal departments manage contracts, the company expanded to help people in sales, IT, finance, and HR manage contracts and other documents, such as RFPs and questionnaires.
Investors included Madrona, Point72 Private Investments, Khosla Ventures, Citi Ventures, and Wilson Sonsini.
Oberoi, Baird, and Elwany are slated to join Docusign in senior product and engineering roles.
“We will drive innovation, deliver greater value to both Docusign and Lexion customers, along with a broader organization that has a deep understanding of the agreement management space,” Oberoi said in a news release.
In a post on LinkedIn, Oberoi said the acquisition represents a “huge opportunity” to combine Lexion’s products with DocuSign’s reach and resources.
“I am humbled and thrilled to join Docusign, and to create magic with our people, products, and customers,” Oberoi wrote.
Lexion has more than 100 employees, according to LinkedIn. Docusign said in its news release that Lexion “brings to Docusign a team of world-class AI engineers with backgrounds at Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft along with a broader organization that has a deep understanding of the agreement management space.”
It would be the fourth acquisition to emerge from the Allen Institute for AI and the AI2 Incubator, which is separately owned and operated after spinning out in 2022. Earlier deals were Baidu’s 2017 acquisition of Kitt.ai; Apple’s 2000 acquisition of Xnor.ai; and the acquisition of BirchAI by Sagility in March of this year.
San Francisco-based Docusign has roots in Seattle and an ongoing engineering presence in the region. The company said the pending acquisition of Lexion is “subject to customary adjustments.” A spokesperson said the deal is expected to be completed in the coming weeks.
Lexion — officially known as DocuSmart Inc. — is a finalist for Workplace of the Year at Thursday’s 2024 GeekWire Awards, and Oberoi is also a finalist for CEO of the Year at the event this week in Seattle.
In the first quarter of this year, there were 55 AI-related VC-backed startups acquired, up from 38 in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to Crunchbase.
