DocuSign, now rebranding as Docusign, announces its acquisition of Lexion, a contract workflow automation startup, for $165 million. This acquisition marks DocuSign’s continued expansion into the contract management sphere, aligning with its recent launch of DocuSign IAM, a service aimed at streamlining corporate agreement creation and negotiation processes.
Lexion, incubated at the renowned Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI2), was founded by Gaurav Oberoi, along with Emad Elwany and James Baird. Initially conceived as a smart repository for contracts, Lexion evolved to offer comprehensive tools addressing various document creation challenges across legal, sales, IT, HR, and finance departments.
Prior to the acquisition, Lexion had secured $35.2 million in venture capital from prominent investors like Khosla Ventures, Madrona, and Point72 Ventures.
According to DocuSign CEO Allan Thygesen, the integration of Lexion’s technology will provide DocuSign customers with deeper insights into contract structures and data, enhancing their ability to identify risks and glean actionable insights. DocuSign plans to leverage Lexion’s AI models for contract creation and negotiation, while Lexion will focus on building seamless integrations with DocuSign’s suite of products.
This acquisition comes at a crucial juncture for DocuSign, amidst ongoing discussions of a potential sale to private equity firms. In a move to bolster its financial standing, DocuSign announced a workforce reduction of approximately 6% in February. Reports suggest that Bain and Hellman & Friedman are among the final contenders in the bidding process, potentially making this acquisition a strategic maneuver to enhance DocuSign’s appeal to prospective buyers.
DocuSign’s acquisition history includes notable purchases like SpringCM in 2018 and Seal Software in 2020, further solidifying its position as a key player in the contract management market.