What’s GCVC, the new fund backed by 50 general counsel
The fund will invest in legal tech, regtech and compliance start-ups at Seed and Series A stage. Wilson Sonsini is the first law firm to join the initiative
GCVC is a new venture capital fund dedicated to start-ups developing technology for the legal, regulatory and compliance sectors. It is backed by more than 50 general counsel from major public and private companies, who are becoming not only users of new solutions but also investors in the innovation set to transform their work.
The New York-based fund was founded by Erick Rabin, general counsel and chief compliance officer at Bilt Rewards, and Matthew Holbreich, a former venture capital lawyer at Fenwick & West. Its investors include current and former legal chiefs from Salesforce, Circle, ElevenLabs, Whatnot and Rippling. Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati is the first law firm to join the initiative and also advised GCVC on its launch through its Fund Services team, led by Brad Doline.
GCVC will focus on early-stage companies, primarily at Seed and Series A. It has already made two investments: Sandstone, an artificial intelligence platform for corporate legal departments, and Stilta, a company developing agentic AI solutions for patent-related work. The fundraising process has not yet been completed, and neither the size of the fund nor the value of the investments made so far has been disclosed.
GCVC’s distinguishing feature is the composition of its investor base. According to its founders, general counsel are particularly well placed to assess emerging technologies because they have first-hand knowledge of the problems these tools are designed to solve and can determine which solutions work in day-to-day operations. Their contribution is therefore expected to extend beyond capital, encompassing product feedback, insights into the needs of legal departments and introductions to potential customers.
The launch comes amid a sharp increase in capital flowing into the sector. In March, Legora raised $550 million, while Harvey closed a $200 million funding round. In November 2025, another specialist investor, The LegalTech Fund, raised $110 million for its second fund.
GCVC, however, adds a new dimension: the technologies are being selected and backed directly by the professionals for whom many of them are designed. It is a further indication of the growing influence of in-house legal departments within the legal innovation market.
