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John Legend, Michael Tubbs Among Backers of Justice Startup

JusticeText, launched in 2021, has attracted some big names for its $2.2 million seed round. The company produces automated transcripts of video to help public defenders handle an ever-increasing load of video evidence.

the scale of justice
Shutterstock/icedmocha
JusticeText, a startup that produces transcripts from video evidence for public defenders across the country, has raised a $2.2 million funding round from some high-profile investors.

The company, launched in 2021, helps attorneys use video evidence in court by producing automated transcripts from those videos — along with editing capabilities for creating clips, annotation and a presentation mode. Video evidence, especially with the proliferation of body-worn cameras in police departments, has become increasingly important in the criminal justice system. But video tends to be unwieldy to store, edit and analyze, leading technology companies to develop new tools for making the job easier.

“The explosion of digital discovery is contributing to unmanageable workloads in public defender agencies nationwide,” reads a blog post announcing the funding round on the company’s website. “The Wisconsin State Public Defender estimated that an additional 40 full-time staff are required to offset the demands of video evidence review alone.”

The seed round involved many investors, including some high-profile names: Former Stockton, Calif., Mayor Michael Tubbs, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and musician John Legend. Other participants included Bloomberg Beta, Google Black Founders Fund, MIT Solve, True Ventures, Higher Ground Labs, Parameter Ventures, Incite.org, Dorothy Chou and Aston Motes.

The company has had early success, going to work in some 50 public defender offices nationwide. The list includes public defenders in Harris County, Texas; Washington, D.C.; New York County (Manhattan) and the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission.