Aiming to Simplify Contract Drafting, SpotDraft Partners with Microsoft to Integrate Word within its CLM Platform

Two months after raising $26 million in Series A funding, SpotDraft, a cloud-based contract lifecycle management platform for in-house legal teams, is today launching a deep integration with Microsoft Word that it says will simplify the contract drafting and review process for businesses of all sizes.

Developed in partnership with Microsoft, the integration makes Microsoft Word the primary editor on the SpotDraft platform, enabling users to access Word’s full suite of capabilities from directly within SpotDraft.

SpotDraft users can now draft and edit contracts using the familiar Word interface while also leveraging SpotDraft’s AI-assisted editing and collaboration features.

SpotDraft users will see a modal introducing them to the Microsoft Word integration.

While it is common for CLM platforms to offer document editing, many build their own cloud-based editors, which lack the features and familiarity of Word. By integrating with Word, SpotDraft gives its customers the ability to work in the document editor they are already comfortable with, and in the .docx format that ensures compatibility.

“By combining Microsoft Word’s familiar and intuitive interface with SpotDraft’s AI-powered CLM platform, we will provide businesses with an even more efficient and user-friendly way to review and manage their contracts,” said Shashank Bijapur, cofounder and CEO of SpotDraft.

A notification in SpotDraft shows that the Word integration is available for this contract.

Word is integrated with SpotDraft’s Task Center, providing advanced revision and commenting features, including the ability to classify comments as tasks, assign team members for review, and set reminders and due dates. SpotDraft also allows users to classify comments on the document as internal or external, ensuring that comments are visible only to those they are intended for.

When the user clicks Edit, the user is given the option to edit with Word.

“We’re excited to empower legal teams with purpose-built technology to enable them to focus on what they do best,” said Rohith Salim, cofounder and chief product officer at SpotDraft. “With SpotDraft’s best-in-class CLM features and our partnership with Microsoft, we’re confident that legal teams can unlock new ways to collaborate with their teams and drive direct business impact.”

SpotDraft’s DraftMate add-in on Word, which allows users to see private comments meant only for their team.

To use the integration, a SpotDraft user goes to a specific contract within the platform and clicks Edit. That opens the document in a new window in Word, showing the editor view.

This Word view has SpotDraft features layered on top of it, including a side panel, called DraftMate, that shows all comments on the draft, with separate tabs allowing a user to toggle between external comments and team comments. The user, when adding a comment, can direct it to either external parties or, by tagging it “Team,” hide the comment from counterparties. Users can notify team members of comments or select specific team members to be notified.

The DraftMate view within Word includes a Task Center that shows all tasks related to the contract and where users can convert comments to tasks and assign them to themselves or others on their team.

When the user saves the document during the editing session, all changes up to that point are saved in SpotDraft and a new version is created.

Still to come, the company says, is the integration of SpotDraft AI within Word. This integrated AI will include clause matching, allowing a user to highlight a clause and find variations of it across the company’s entire clause library, and then quickly make changes to the draft based on the suggested variations.

“SpotDraft is built on the principles of simplicity, efficiency, and innovation,” the company said in a blog post today. “By integrating Word into our platform, we’re infusing these values into our offering, giving you the power to create, collaborate, and manage legal documents in a familiar and trusted environment.”

In March, SpotDraft announced that it had raised $26 million in a Series A funding round. The round was led by Premji Invest, with participation from Prosus Ventures, 021 Capital, Arkam Ventures, Riverwalk Holdings, and 100x Entrepreneur Fund.

The company said that the funding was earmarked for further product development and aggressive growth in North America.