In June 2024, MUFG Innovation Partners (MUIP) made an investment in MNTSQ (Montesquieu), a startup that helps businesses digitalize their legal operations. MNTSQ’s flagship product is the SaaS solution “MNTSQ CLM”, which centralizes companies’ internal knowledge and data related to contracts and helps them streamline their contract process.
We sat down with Ryuhei Itaya, Founder and CEO of MNTSQ, to hear about the company’s founding, the background to MNTSQ CLM’s development, and receiving investment from MUIP.
What is MNTSQ CLM?
When Itaya practiced as a lawyer, he saw that parties unfamiliar with contract negotiations tended to agree to unfavorable terms. He shared the following experience.
I recall a case where the opposing party, in a negotiation with my client, said to me ‘I trust you’ and agreed to the terms of the contract without thoroughly reviewing its content. Although we reached an agreement, the opposing party, being unfamiliar with contract work, unknowingly entered into a contract with terms unfavorable to them.
This experience made me deeply question the fairness of contract operations. Although securing favorable terms for a client is considered excellent work as a lawyer, it also made me aware of the issue that those who are inexperienced or uninformed in contract negotiations are often led into unfair agreements without realizing it. That ultimately led to the founding of MNTSQ, with the goal of creating a society where everyone can enter into contracts on fair terms.
Itaya became convinced that AI technology could be applied to contract and legal operations to solve this issue after witnessing incredible technological advancements. With this belief, he launched MNTSQ.
The main feature of MNTSQ CLM is its advanced machine learning (natural language processing) technology that leverages the knowledge of Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu, one of the largest law firms in Japan where Itaya previously worked as an associate. This unique offering has already contributed to its widespread adoption by many leading companies in various industries.
MNTSQ's solution supports the entire spectrum of contract and legal operations, from drafting and reviewing contracts before signing to updating and managing them after signing. This solution effectively addresses some of the key challenges faced by corporate legal departments, such as fragmented management of contracts and review of complex contracts that is difficult without experienced members.
Earlier this year in April 2024, MNTSQ launched a new feature named “MNTSQ AI Contract Review”.
The fact that MNTSQ utilizes the legal database is a confidential matter.
MNTSQ AI Contract Review enables tailored contract review by applying the company’s unique contract rules and knowledge to its contract data. We’re now able to offer companies a solution highly customized to their needs.
This feature has strengthened MNTSQ CLM’s ability to leverage companies’ internal knowledge related to contracts, further enhancing its unique position in the market for contract review tools. This is an important step toward realizing MNTSQ's goal of creating a one-stop platform for all legal operations.
Investment from MUIP and vision for MNTSQ
Itaya explained his thoughts on welcoming MUIP as a shareholder.
MUFG Bank, a member of the MUFG Group, is a customer of MNTSQ CLM and has a strong understanding of our product and of the pressing need for digital transformation faced by many financial institutions.
During MUIP’s investment evaluation process, we received insightful feedback rooted in a deep understanding of our business. We felt that MUIP has a team of professionals well-equipped to invest in and support startups, and we are excited to work with them as a partner.
Itaya aims to build a platform where “all legal operations are commenced and completed." Rather than merely streamlining or replacing some aspects of contract execution, MNTSQ is seeking to have the entire contract process managed within MNTSQ CLM as a comprehensive platform.
There are plans to enhance the value provided to Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) companies, improve the product, and actively promote the digital transformation of contract and legal operations for MUFG's corporate customers.
Conclusion
MNTSQ aims to provide a seamless solution for contract-related processes, which accelerates transactions and enhances risk management.
By merging technology with legal knowledge, MNTSQ has the potential to not only streamline contract management but also transform corporate decision-making processes. Insights gained from the structural analysis of contract data could lead to new business opportunities and advanced risk management. MNTSQ expects to pursue these possibilities through collaboration with MUFG companies.
In turn, MUIP anticipates that collaboration with MNTSQ will improve MUFG companies’ business efficiency and effectiveness by transforming contract management and lead to new products and business opportunities by combining MNTSQ’s solutions with MUFG’s assets.
MNTSQ’s growth strategy focuses on improving and expanding its AI contract review feature. The company aims to enhance its end-to-end contract and legal operations platform by continuing to improve its ability to leverage contract data in a wide range of enterprises across various industries.
