Shruti Ajitsaria

One of the most powerful tools that many benefit corporation statues afford, is the right of a shareholder action to ensure that a company's E.S.G. mandates have been met. Thanks, Jon Scott for sharing this article on how that works.

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It is estimated that the UK’s AI market will grow to over $1 trillion by 2035. Regardless of the numbers, 2024 has brought some exciting developments to the UK’s AI ecosystem and continued investment, as we predicted when we launched our UK Tech M&A Review last year.   MoFo had the privilege of acting for its longstanding client, SoftBank Group Corp. on its $1 billion investment into Wayve, a leading UK-based developer of embodied AI for autonomous vehicles. The investment closed last month and is one of the largest ever investments in a UK-based AI company!    To read more about the Wayve investment, please click here: https://lnkd.in/ehc46ge2   #MandA #MoFo #MergersAndAcquisitions #TechInnovation #CrossBorder #Corporate #Technology #TechMandA #MandATrends #AI #AutonomousVehicles #VC #VentureCapital

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Great flow chart here (for people who like their content visual) of what a UK venture capital funding round looks like, what documents are involved, and as regards the order of play generally... #VC #venturecapital #HLaw

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Some really interesting Venture Capital and Fintech insights in the UK Innovation Update for Q1 2024: 💰 the UK remains the #1 country in Europe for VC investment in 2024; 💰 Fintech is back on top as UKʼs most-funded startup sector; 💰 closer to home, Edinburgh has had the highest growth in VC investment in 2024 amongst UK tech hubs with a 406% increase on 2023 figures. Whilst undoubtedly there are still funding challenges in the market it's great to see the growth in Fintech and in the Scottish market in particular! #venturecapital #fintech #CMS #CMSCorporate #growth https://lnkd.in/ePPng6jT

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This article outlines everything you need to consider when setting up a private company in the UK. ➡️https://okt.to/bT7CtL

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Here are some high level thoughts on the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act: with the most important legislative changes to the UK's competition landscape for many years.

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Great first day at LONDON TECH WEEK 2024 👌 TLDR: AI rocks, open still the way, there is money out there, hype lessening, wider than ChatGPT, app are the way, it’s complicated, call a lawyer! Top takeaways from Day 1: - Yes, the furure of AI is #open 💪 (thanks Nicola Hodson at IBM) - Clare Barclay at Microsoft brilliantly hammered home why UK 🇬🇧 rocks for AI - super high in #AIReadinessIndex and people like Microsoft are making eye-watering 😂 levels of investment here … #CoPilot, just saying! - Flippin’ ‘eck, didn’t Stephan Pretorius show us what it really meant to do #AI right at an organisational level: Platform, Vision, Partnerships, Investment, Data and Skills. They ALL matter - and on skills a great shout out to the University of Oxford #OxAI course (👈 Matthias Holweg 🥳) and hats off to WPP for their Creative Technology Apprenticeship programme 🎓👷 - Still some pessimism about the whole 🇬🇧 vs 🇺🇸 thing in terms of fundraising. You should be speaking to Daniel Glazer and Richard Goold on that US front. Good businesses raise money! And actually Anthony Rose from SeedLegals made this point too with his take on being a UK based founder. But you gotta graft and hussle! - In a detailed discussion Rana Yared and May Habib confirmed that yes there is some irritation at “chatbotification” (Thank you!!!!) But more importantly I have never seen anyone articulate the needs of enterprise trust requirements better than May Habib, so that AI use will not cause a regulator to wince. Most notably it is good to see session traceability highlighted (alongside the big ✔️ items: 1. SECURE 2 ACCURATE 3 LEGAL 4 ETHICAL 5 TRANSPARENT) As a lawyer who committed my career to supporting tech enabled business before thst was even a thing in lawyer-land, all of this ☝️is so exciting. But there is a BUT … As we all now move up and focus on the app stack (because we are not all building foundational models, let’s be honest!) the laws are a quite tricky. And, getting it right requires a real and honest dialogue between product, engineering, users and legal folk who actually ‘get’ AI (like me 🤖) Please don’t just plug it in 🔌 ‘cos you know data, IPR, ethics, rights, regulators and a quite a few use case specific laws 😬 Generally people asking me about #EUAIAct and how to marry that up with “the rest of it”. Exactly. #techlawyer #datalawyer #AIlawyer #AI #artificialintelligence #LTW #LondonTechWeek

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Navigating the maze of #VC #template #documentation can be #confusing, but our #workshop will #demystify the process for you! Join us to gain clear #insights, #practical #guidance, and hands-on #experience that will help you master VC documentation with confidence! Don't miss this opportunity to simplify your journey and empower your venture. Sign up today! #training #fsreg #venturecapital #June #Workshop

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It was great to be able to connect and share my thoughts and insight for the Connectivity Mix Ecosystem Insight for Connect: Health Tech (https://lnkd.in/eweszqZu) alongside some brilliant other #contributors. A really great example of what we should all be talking about - how we can improve #connectivity and #collaboration amongst ourselves and #ecosystems to the benefit of not just ourselves, but the UK as a whole. The paper has just been launched and can be read here: https://lnkd.in/eP4ptRUr. #ConnectivityMix #JoinTheDots.

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Very much looking forward to talking to founders that are enabling enterprises to get their data ready for AI consumption. Sign up below!

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Our latest #TechnolAG update from Addleshaw Goddard is out ! All you want to know before the summer on #tech, #DORA, #NIS2, a practical legal guide to harnessing #Generative #AI and some recent #AI news. Addleshaw Goddard France David Berry David Anderson Damon Rosamond-Lanzetta

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We are often asked about how we prioritised our research and application of Generative AI and what we had to stop doing/focusing on to do that. Having a dedicated Innovation team with individual specialist areas has allowed us to direct resources to continue pushing broader innovation in the firm, whilst our R&D team focuses on Generative AI.   Transforming the way we manage transactions at Addleshaw Goddard is one of those priorities. We regularly run workshops with our transactional teams to understand the main pinch points and we look at ways we can creatively combine people, process and technology to address these challenges.   Last summer, we heard a common theme from our lawyer groups – they told us that they needed a better way to report on issues to clients when reviewing lengthy contractual documents. The manual method would involve typing up a table or lifting comments from Word documents and copying and pasting them into a separate list. An idea was born and working closely with our transactional lawyers, we have built "Flag," our own custom AG issues list generator. With no hint of an LLM in sight.   Our lawyers can tag a clause, word or phrase, "flag" the issue and note their advice or a request for instruction or information. Flag then generates an automated issues list, which is hyperlinked to the specific clause, word or phrase. This can be easily shared internally and with clients to streamline and assist in taking instructions, negotiating and reaching the optimum outcome for our clients.   This solution is just one of many that we offer to our lawyers as part of our 'transaction toolkit'. By working closely with our lawyers, continuously developing and iterating, we can create targeted solutions to address their specific problems. This collaborative approach allows us to identify further opportunities to deliver value, drive efficiencies, and get to completion faster.   This is a clear example of how other innovation projects didn't stop because of the focus on Generative AI. Russel James, Laura Pilkington, Emma Cox, Elliot White

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Earlier this week, I attended a great event - Startup Life: AI vs Employees - organised by Sifted, with a brilliant panel including Eleanor Lightbody from Luminance and Rishabh Mehrotra from Sourcegraph, expertly moderated by Anisah Osman Britton MBE. I don't need to tell anyone at AI is a hot topic right now. We heard from the panel that it isn't hype, and it isn't going away; if companies don't invest in it now, they might risk falling behind. Some useful insights: 🗝 Rather than seeing AI as the enemy, employees could be empowered to use AI to unlock potential - it should make employees more efficient and productive which might free up more of their time to think critically or strategically, or be more creative ⏲ If time is freed up, employees could start to look at multiple roles around their existing role - what else can an existing role collapse into? 🎻 Companies will still need employees to check whether a piece of software is actually working properly - they will remain domain experts in their chosen field, and orchestrate effective use of AI tools ✍ AI to create content is a non-negotiable for a smaller team with limited resources Such an interesting talk about a very relevant topic. Let's start embracing the change rather than fearing it! Founders - you should also check out #siftedforstartups! #startups #founders #ai #tech

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It is surprising how many cross-border deals involving UK PLCs, but with little or no connection with the UK public markets, start with the question, "Could the Takeover Code apply?" The Takeover Panel is consulting on changes to the Code that would "refocus" its scope and provide welcome certainty that UK companies listed outside of the UK (such as on NYSE and NASDAQ) will not be subject to the Code, irrespective of their directors' residency. While transitional arrangements will mean that these changes will not take effect for some time, we could see this unlock value for affected companies, particularly if the application of the Code was previously seen as an obstacle to a deal. More detail below.

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Looking forward to moderating this discussion next week on the Sifted 100 Report and the state of the UK tech ecosystem - see details below to register to join us! #sifted100 #tech #vc

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How many Eversheds Sutherland lawyers does it take to change a light bulb 💡 ?!? I have to say I am not sure, but it took our experts from 4 different legal areas ( Technology, Advertising, Litigation & Disputes Management and Consumer Law ) to write our latest briefing on AI Washing. This occurs where a business might overstate or exaggerate its use of AI in its products or services. Under UK consumer law this is actionable as a misleading action and may be a breach of contract, in addition to the reputational risks. This is an area where we predict increasing global regulatory action as we have seen in subjects such as greenwashing. Please see our briefing for a more detailed analysis in each legal area. #AI #evershedssutherland #consumerlaw #greenwashing #AIwashing

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Did we just hear about the return of UK data reform in the #KingsSpeech? Much of the focus, rightly, of the proposed Digital Information and Smart Data Bill will be on the potential benefits and risks of Digital Verification Services (which, amongst other things, is a key element of enhancing online safety of children under various global initiatives). But the briefing notes also say: "The Bill will ensure your data is well protected. We are modernising and strengthening the ICO. It will be transformed into a more modern regulatory structure, with a CEO, board and chair. And it will have new, stronger powers. This will be accompanied by targeted reforms to some data laws that will maintain high standards of protection but where there is currently a lack of clarity impeding the safe development and deployment of some new technologies. We will also promote standards for digital identities around privacy, security and inclusion." Sound familiar? https://lnkd.in/ef4fGA3W

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I took a break from half term activities to provide some comments to Lexology on the Competition and Markets Authority's much awaited guidance on the DMCC. There is quite some room for interpretation of the DMCC so we had expected to see relatively detailed guidelines from the CMA building on the considerable experience they have gained in the various cases and market studies they have already carried out in digital markets. One specific area many of us hoped to see clarified in the guidelines was ‘the how, the when and the what’ for third parties interested in submitting complaints, and that is specifically dealt with in Chapter 6 on ‘Monitoring’. For example, para 6.11 suggests that third parties may wish to provide submissions or complaints on SMS firms’ compliance with competition requirements, the effectiveness of those requirements and whether to vary or revoke the competition requirements. Para 6.12 provides some useful clarity on what specific questions third parties may wish to provide comments or views on, including which requirement is the subject of the submission, and an explanation of the issue, what has changed since the requirement was imposed, what changes should be made to the requirement (including how to make it more effective), why these changes would not lead to harm/unintended consequences, and whether any transitional, transitory or saving provisions should apply.   The CMA makes clear in its guidance that it has the discretion to determine the appropriate course of action or response to submissions received, depending on the materiality of the change being suggested, the scale of harm indicated, the quality of supporting evidence and the CMA’s prioritisation principles.   But it is fair to say that the role of third parties in monitoring compliance, and holding gatekeepers to account, is something the CMA has acknowledged and explicitly recognises – there are numerous references throughout the guidance to engagement from third parties and to ensuring they have the opportunity to input into the CMA’s decision-making process.  This is to be welcomed - but, as always, the devil will be in the detail. (and my co-commentator Verity Egerton-Doyle is right - there is significant discretion for the CMA built into these guidelines...) #DMCC #digitalmarkets #competitionregime #CMA https://lnkd.in/dUZMvi3B

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This government’s ‘levelling up’ idea has always been gaslighting. It’s one thing to adequately fund in public services and infrastructure nationally (which the govt does not but should genuinely do - why aren’t all northern cities better linked?), but in financial/economic terms there are many reasons a city the size and location of Manchester won’t be ‘London’. And think of it this way: at least the UK *still has* London (look what happens when you strip London out of Britain’s economic figures!). At least regional entrepreneurs don’t have to move their business out of the country to get funding (though many move to the US). We should celebrate/leverage this advantage, rather than spread resources too thinly in a doomed attempt to fund another Tory fantasy. Brexit is bad enough.

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