UK funder IQuote pours £10 million into AI as tech arms race intensifies

A Manchester-based litigation finance firm is investing heavily in artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure, arguing that capital alone is no longer enough to compete in an increasingly complex funding market.

IQuote Limited said it has committed more than £10 million to technology and automation designed to improve case assessment and streamline law firm operations, warning that both firms and funders risk falling behind if they fail to modernize.

The investment includes Rowan.AI, a platform that automates client intake and case triage, and Verimetrics, an AI-driven identity verification system aimed at speeding onboarding and compliance processes. Additional tools manage multi-channel communications and provide dashboards tracking case progress and client data.

Founder and Chief Executive Craig Cornick said the shift reflects a broader evolution in legal finance, where efficiency, data insight, and governance tools increasingly sit alongside balance sheet capacity.

“For years, legal funding was seen purely as capital provision,” Cornick said, adding that firms and funders that fail to embrace technology risk falling behind. AI and automation, he said, allow firms to make better funding decisions and pursue cases they might otherwise decline.

IQuote said it has supported group actions and complex consumer claims expected to generate more than £1 billion in client redress, with funding enabling High Court and multi-party matters that may otherwise have been difficult for firms to run. The company positions its technology suite as a way to reduce recurring administrative burdens while allowing lawyers to scale higher-value disputes.

The investment also forms part of a broader expansion strategy. IQuote has opened a technology office in Dubai to tap global AI and data expertise and has increased UK headcount across compliance, risk, and technology functions. Cornick said the firm is looking toward the US as its next growth market, with its technology platform serving as a key driver of transatlantic expansion.

The move comes amid rising operational costs for law firms and growing regulatory scrutiny of funding arrangements, pressures that are pushing funders to differentiate beyond pricing and capital terms. As competition intensifies, data-led underwriting, automated triage, and integrated compliance tools are becoming part of the core value proposition rather than optional add-ons.

IQuote said the industry is entering a phase in which technology is embedded in how legal finance operates, not layered on top of it. For funders competing in mass claims, consumer redress, and complex multi-party disputes, the question is no longer whether to invest in digital infrastructure, but how quickly they can do so without eroding margins or oversight.