Qualcomm backs SpotDraft to scale on-device contract AI with valuation doubling towards $400M

As demand grows for privacy-first enterprise AI that may run with out sending delicate information to the cloud, SpotDraft has raised $8 million from Qualcomm Ventures in a strategic Sequence B extension to scale its on-device contract overview tech for regulated authorized workflows.

The extension values SpotDraft at round $380 million, the startup advised TechCrunch, practically double its $190 million post-money valuation following its $56 million Sequence B in February of final 12 months.

Throughout regulated sectors, enterprises have moved shortly to check generative AI, however privateness, safety, and information governance issues proceed to gradual adoption for delicate workflows — particularly in authorized, the place contracts can embody privileged data, mental property, pricing, and deal phrases. Business analysis has persistently flagged information safety and privateness as key obstacles to wider GenAI deployment in skilled providers, pushing distributors like SpotDraft to pursue architectures that hold core contract intelligence on the person’s gadget somewhat than routing it by means of the cloud.

At Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Summit 2025, SpotDraft demonstrated its VerifAI workflow working end-to-end on Snapdragon X Elite-powered laptops, executing contract overview and edits offline whereas retaining the doc on the native machine. SpotDraft stated web connectivity remains to be required for login, licensing, and collaboration options, however contract overview, threat scoring, and redlining can run absolutely offline with out sending paperwork to the cloud.

SpotDraft sees authorized as an early proving floor for on-device enterprise AI, arguing that delicate contracts typically can’t be routed by means of exterior cloud fashions on account of privateness, safety, and compliance constraints.

“The way forward for how enterprise AI goes to be — proper now, there’s acquired to be AI that’s near the doc, which is privateness crucial, latency delicate, [and] legally delicate, and people are the issues that may transfer on gadget,” stated Shashank Bijapur (pictured above, left), co-founder and CEO of SpotDraft, in an interview.

SpotDraft says VerifAI’s on-device functionality extends past merely producing summaries, with the software designed to use playbooks and suggestions immediately inside Microsoft Phrase, the best way authorized groups already work. “VerifAI will evaluate a contract in opposition to your tips, your playbooks, your prior insurance policies,” stated Madhav Bhagat (pictured above, proper), co-founder and CTO of SpotDraft.

Bijapur advised TechCrunch that the demand for on-device AI is rising most clearly in tightly regulated sectors, together with protection and pharma, the place inside safety critiques and information residency necessities can gradual or block using cloud-based AI instruments for delicate paperwork.

On-device fashions have quickly closed the hole with cloud-based methods, each in output high quality and response occasions, Bhagat stated. “Now we’ve come to a spot the place, by way of eval, we’re seeing as little as 5% distinction between the frontier fashions, and a few of these fine-tuned on gadget fashions,” he stated, including that speeds on newer chips at the moment are “one-third of what we get within the cloud.”

Since its launch in 2017, SpotDraft stated it has reached greater than 700 prospects, up from round 400 in February final 12 months, and counts Apollo.io, Panasonic, Zeplin, and Whatfix amongst its customers. The corporate stated adoption is rising on its contract lifecycle administration platform, with prospects now processing over 1 million contracts yearly, contract volumes rising 173% year-over-year, and practically 50,000 month-to-month energetic customers. It additionally expects 100% year-over-year income development in 2026, after rising 169% in 2024 and posting an analogous development charge in 2025, although it didn’t share particular income figures.

SpotDraft plans to make use of the brand new capital to deepen its product and AI capabilities and develop its enterprise presence throughout the Americas, the EMEA area (Europe, Center East, and Africa), and India, Bijapur stated, including that Qualcomm’s involvement extends past financing into joint improvement and go-to-market efforts for on-device deployments. The startup’s on-device workflow is at present out there to a restricted set of consumers, and the founders count on it to develop extra broadly as appropriate AI PC {hardware} turns into extra broadly out there.

“SpotDraft’s means to deploy their proprietary fashions securely on-device utilizing Snapdragon platforms represents a significant development for a privacy-critical business,” stated Quinn Li, senior vice chairman, Qualcomm Applied sciences, and world head of Qualcomm Ventures.

Bengaluru- and New York-based SpotDraft stated it has a workforce of 300-plus staff, together with 15–20 within the U.S., the place COO Akshay Verma relies, and 4 to 5 within the UK, with the remainder of the workforce in Bengaluru.

Up to now, the startup has raised $92 million, together with the newest Qualcomm Ventures funding. Its earlier buyers embody Vertex Progress Singapore, Trident Progress Companions, Xeed VC, Arkam Ventures, and Prosus Ventures.