Platus

What do they actually do

Platus provides a web workspace and developer API to automate routine legal document work. Teams can generate and fill documents, route them for human review, collect e‑signatures, run identity/KYC checks, and submit documents for online notarization. The product can be used via no‑code links or embedded programmatically through API endpoints (homepage, agents/API).

A catalog of “Smart Legal Agents” handles predictable tasks such as NDA generation, contract filling, data extraction, redaction, compliance checks, and notarization pre‑checks. A typical flow is: start from a template or upload, run an agent to populate or analyze, send for approval if needed, trigger signing and KYC/notarization where required, then store the executed files and audit trail with follow‑up automations (agents, homepage).

They highlight GDPR posture, encrypted storage, and EU server locations for compliance‑sensitive customers. Current buyers include law firms, in‑house legal/compliance teams, real‑estate teams, and SMBs/startups needing higher‑volume document and compliance workflows (homepage, YC profile).

Who are their target customer(s)

• In‑house legal and compliance teams at startups and mid‑market companies: They manage many routine contracts and need audit trails, identity checks, and occasional notarization; today these steps are slow and manual across multiple tools. Platus centralizes drafting, review, e‑signing, and KYC/notarization with workflow agents (agents, homepage).
• Real‑estate teams and closing coordinators: They coordinate multi‑party signings, identity verification, and frequent notarizations under strict jurisdictional rules. Platus offers online notarization flows and a notarization API to streamline those tasks (homepage).
• Small and medium law firms handling high volumes of standard documents: Repetitive drafting, data extraction, redaction, and compliance checks consume billable time. Platus’ prebuilt legal agents aim to offload these steps (agents).
• European founders and SMBs (esp. Germany) needing a legal business address and mail handling: They must maintain a registered business address and process official mail without hiring back‑office staff. Platus is rolling out Beglaubigt.de (digital address + AI mailroom) for this use case (YC profile).
• Product/engineering teams at platforms (fintechs, incorporators) needing embedded signing and notarization: Adding compliant identity checks and notarization requires heavy operations and integrations. Platus exposes developer‑first signing/notarization APIs to embed these flows (homepage, agents/API).

How would they acquire their first 10, 50, and 100 customers

• First 10: Hands‑on pilots with 4–6 law firms and 4–6 real‑estate closing teams via YC network and founder referrals; custom‑build one or two agents per pilot, waive setup fees for feedback and a public case study. Parallel cold outreach to in‑house legal leads at recently funded startups with live demos and white‑glove onboarding.
• First 50: Offer Beglaubigt.de bundled pilots in Germany via founder/incorporation communities, co‑working and address‑provider referrals; run monthly product clinics/webinars for compliance teams. Publish ready‑to‑use agents/templates, short how‑to videos, and simple pilot pricing to convert self‑serve signups using early case studies as proof.
• First 100: Sign distribution deals with 2–3 vertical platforms (incorporators, fintechs, property/closing software) to embed the notarization/signing API. Hire a junior sales rep focused on mid‑market legal ops, ship packaged integrations and SLAs, invest in EU localization, and spin up a lightweight reseller program for consultants and notary networks.

What is the rough total addressable market

Top-down context:

Platus spans adjacent markets: e‑signature, CLM, identity verification, and remote online notarization. Recent estimates put the global digital signature market at about $5.24B in 2024 (rising to ~$38B by 2030) (Grand View Research), CLM software at ~$1.78B in 2025 (to ~$3.24B by 2030) (Grand View Research), identity verification at ~$11.5B in 2023 (to ~$33.9B by 2030) (Grand View Research), and e‑notary/RON in the hundreds of millions in 2025 (e.g., ~$0.42B) with rapid growth (Reports Insights). Europe represents a significant share of each market, suggesting a relevant regional opportunity in the low single‑digit billions when focusing on legal workflow automation that combines these components.

Bottom-up calculation:

If Platus initially targets 20,000 European teams across law firms, in‑house legal/compliance, and real‑estate closings with an average annual contract value of €5,000 for workflow agents, e‑signature, KYC, and notarization, that implies an initial TAM of ~€100M for the near‑term focus. Embedded API deals with platforms could raise average ACV in sub‑segments, but the €100M figure is a conservative starting point for the first few target verticals.

Assumptions:

• Focus on Europe with an initial pool of ~20k realistic buyers across law firms, in‑house legal/compliance, and real‑estate teams.
• Blended average ACV of ~€5k/year for core automation + signing/notarization features; higher ACVs possible for API/enterprise.
• TAM here reflects immediate serviceable verticals vs. the full global markets cited in top‑down estimates.

Who are some of their notable competitors

• DocuSign: Market leader for e‑signature and agreement management with identity verification and a Notary product/API; overlaps on signing, signer ID, and notarization infrastructure for larger customers.
• Notarize (Proof): API‑first remote online notarization and identity proofing provider with an on‑demand notary network; direct competitor on RON/KYC flows, especially for U.S. use cases.
• Ironclad: Enterprise CLM that automates drafting, approvals, redlining, and post‑signature management; overlaps on legal workflow automation for in‑house teams but not focused on notarization/KYC plumbing.
• Juro: Browser‑native CLM for EU/mid‑market legal teams with AI‑assisted contract automation and e‑signing; overlaps on generation and signing, with less emphasis on integrated notarization.
• IDnow: EU‑focused identity verification and qualified e‑signature (eIDAS) provider used for KYC and high‑assurance signing; competes on the identity/QES layer rather than end‑to‑end document agents.