New Delhi, India. Photo: Kriangkrai Thitimakorn/Shutterstock.com

India’s largest law firm, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, has launched a legal tech startup incubator—the first of its kind in the country.

The startup incubator, called Prarambh, will support new technology-based solutions for the legal industry in such areas as dispute resolution, transactions, law firm operations, legal research, compliance, contract management, access to justice, and legal talent management.

Komal Gupta, the firm's head of artificial intelligence and innovation, will lead Prarambh. Gupta joined the firm in May 2017 after almost a decade at U.S. legal process outsourcing company Integreon in India, most recently as vice president of legal services.

Prarambh will provide co-working space, information technology infrastructure, subject matter expertise and mentors to the startups. It will be based in Cyril Amarchand's New Delhi office and will be expanded to other locations.

The incubator will start out with three or four startups, which will be announced the first week of July. Applications to join the incubator can be submitted beginning April 8 and will be accepted until April 30. A shortlist of applicants will be selected at the end of May for an interview and pitch, which will take place in June.

"We have been first to adopt a number of new technologies in the legal space, such as artificial intelligence-based machine learning, and we are now the first to support and incubate technology startups," said managing partner Cyril Shroff in a statement.

Prarambh is part of the broader innovation lab launched by Cyril Amarchand in May 2017, which is also led by Gupta. The innovation lab is a team of six lawyers from Cyril Amarchand identifying areas where the firm can innovate and use new tools.

In January 2017, Cyril Amarchand became the first firm in India to adopt artificial intelligence technology in its day-to-day practice, signing up with Canadian machine learning software provider Kira Systems to process contracts and other legal documents more quickly and accurately.

"Our DNA is to be a pioneer in evolving practices and technologies. We believe that we can support our clients, our lawyers and enhance the services provided through this," Shroff said.

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