C-Clerc raises €1.2M to expand sovereign AI for French notary offices
What's the deal? French startup C-ClercDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has raised €1.2 million ($1.36 million) in a seed round from Adnexus, the investment fund of Groupe ADSN. The company builds sovereign software to help notary offices manage client relationships and grow their business.
What does it do? C-Clerc offers a CRM built around the legal profession's code of conduct, augmented by AI and interoperable with existing notary software. It lets offices segment their client base, send targeted communications, and track results within France's strict rules on notary advertising.
The numbers: In under two years, C-Clerc has reached nearly €2 million in annual recurring revenue and equipped close to 500 notary offices in France. It now employs more than 25 people.
Why now? Founded in 2023 by Leah Benguigui, Jacques Claire-Sagot, and Clément Couadou, the company says it has confirmed demand and is entering a new phase. The round will fund product development, client support, and company structuring.
What's the endgame? C-Clerc wants to extend the notary profession's long digital shift — from electronic deeds to secure archiving — into client relationships. Its AI is French, hosted in France, anonymises data, and draws on a regularly updated regulatory knowledge base.
Chief executive Leah Benguigui said the startup sought "more than an investor: a partner who understands what it means to build tools for a regulated profession." She added that C-Clerc and Adnexus share "the same requirements on security, sovereignty, and data protection" (translated from French).
The signal: Backing from Groupe ADSN's fund ties C-Clerc to the notary sector's own infrastructure, signalling appetite for sovereign, compliance-first AI built for tightly regulated professions rather than generic tools.
Read more: planet-fintech.com
Image credit: Tim Pierce
