India’s largest litigation funder plans ₹100 crore deployment to scale case financing

LegalPay, India’s largest litigation funder, said it plans to deploy ₹100 crore over the next 18 months to expand its litigation finance operations, betting that rising legal costs and prolonged court timelines will accelerate demand for third-party funding across the country.

The capital will be invested across 20 to 30 commercial and insolvency-related matters, with individual commitments ranging from ₹2 crore to ₹5 crore per case, the company said. LegalPay provides structured, non-recourse funding to claimants and law firms, covering legal fees and related costs in exchange for a share of recoveries if a case succeeds.

The planned expansion comes against the backdrop of significant congestion in India’s courts, where more than five crore cases remain pending. Lengthy proceedings can stretch over several years, increasing legal expenses and often pressuring parties to settle early or abandon claims despite their underlying merit.

LegalPay said its model is designed to address that imbalance by allowing claimants to pursue disputes without tying up operating capital or absorbing upfront litigation risk. Funding is repayable only upon a successful outcome, shifting financial exposure away from claimants and their counsel.

“What we see repeatedly is not a lack of legal merit, but a lack of financial staying power,” said Kundan Shahi, the company’s founder. “When litigation runs for five or seven years, cost itself becomes a pressure tactic. Our objective is to remove that pressure where claims are legally sound and commercially viable.”

The company said it will focus primarily on commercial disputes and insolvency matters, where extended timelines and enforcement risk can weigh heavily on creditors and operating businesses. Since the introduction of India’s Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, admitted cases have involved claims worth several lakh crore rupees, underscoring both the scale of disputes and the capital strain faced by stakeholders navigating drawn-out resolution processes.

LegalPay said each prospective investment is subject to detailed legal and financial diligence, including assessment of merits, enforceability, jurisdiction, expected timelines, and recovery prospects. Only a small proportion of reviewed cases ultimately receive funding, the company said, reflecting a selective approach to capital deployment.

Indian businesses are estimated to spend more than ₹60,000 crore annually on legal and regulatory matters, and litigation finance is increasingly being viewed as a risk-management tool rather than a niche product. LegalPay said the planned deployment is intended to support a legal ecosystem in which disputes are pursued based on merit, rather than constrained by access to capital.