Best Startup
At Best Startup UK we track over 130,000 UK startups and over 500,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top London based Chairman operating in the Software space. If you think a Chairman is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.co.uk.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Companies House UK, Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Paul Ellis
Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Electron
Paul Ellis is co-founder and CEO at Electron, a new platform focusing on reinventing the retail energy market in the UK using the Ethereum blockchain. Prior to Electron, Paul spent 13 years in Investment Banking. He founded a development business and fin tech incubator. He then created and ran an electronic trading platform for credit derivatives for a number of years.
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About Electron: Electron is accelerating the energy industry’s transition to Net Zero by making granular, market-based interactions possible.
Nicholas Shekerdemian
Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Headstart
Nicholas Shekerdemian is the co-founder and executive chairman at Headstart.
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About Headstart, The Venture Collective: Headstart is diversity recruiting software focused on breaking the cycle of exclusion.
Ian Campbell
Executive Chairman of Airfi Networks
See https://www.linkedin.com/in/iancmpbll/
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About Airfi Networks: We help Original Equipment Manufacturers launch and monetize cellular connected products worldwide through our Catalyst IoT Platform
Richard Burston
Vice Chairman of KORE Wireless
Richard Burston, a successful entrepreneur and private equity investor, founded Regency Capital International Limited, a London-based merchant bank in 1991. From 2002 to 2004, He was the CEO of Bostream AB, following Regency Capital’s purchase of a majority interest in the company. He built Bostream into Sweden’s leading independent broadband ISP, prior to selling the company in late 2004. Before founding Regency Capital in 1991, he was employed by Morgan Stanley. Mr Burston, a Canadian citizen, has a B.A. in Economics from Yale University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
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About KORE Wireless: KORE Wireless is a trusted advisor delivering mission-critical IoT solutions and services.
Jeremy Wilson
Non-Executive Chairman of QPQ
Jeremy Wilson is currently the Chairman at QPQ.
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About QPQ: QPQ is a network infrastructure to enable a digital universe.
Jeremy Wilson
Non-Executive Chairman of QPQ
Jeremy Wilson is currently the Chairman at QPQ.
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About QPQ: QPQ is a network infrastructure to enable a digital universe.
Laurent Laffy
Founder and Executive Chairman of SeedLegals
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About Prepay Technologies, SeedLegals: The simple way for companies to complete the legals needed to raise investment and distribute equity
Marek Fodor
Chairman of Kantox
Marek began his career working in consulting and banking before moving on to internet-related projects. Before joining Kantox he co-founded and was CTO at Atrapalo, largest independent online travel agency in Spain. He is an active business angel investor and mentor for technology startups. He is specialised in marketing and growth strategiHe has a dual university education background in both computer science and in economics.
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About 4Founders Capital, Kantox, SeedRocket, Terminis, Toubkal Partners: Kantox is a leader in Currency Management Automation software that enables businesses to automate their end-to-end FX workflow
Ron Zeghibe
Executive Chairman, Founder of FREE NOW
Ron Zeghibe is the Founder & Chairman of the Board of Directors at Hailo. Prior to this he has enjoyed a successful career in media and outdoor advertising.
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About FREE NOW, Xenomorph: FREE NOW is one of the biggest ride-hailing apps in Europe and currently available in 11 countries.
Chris Niarchos
Founder & Chairman of Cobra Group of Companies
Chris Niarchos is the Founder and Chairman of the Cobra Group of Companies is an is an entrepreneurial organisation that specialises in incubating, developing and managing an exciting portfolio of businesses, with interests in sales and marketing, insurance, mobile technology, financial services, high-performance race car design and manufacture, and energy. The Cobra Group currently has 13 subsidiary companies, which include Appco Group – one of the world’s leading face-to-face fundraising and marketing agencies – McLaren GT and AmTrust Mobile Solutions. Cobra is continuing to build on its diverse portfolio of businesses, all with the common theme of opening up a world of opportunity to the people associated with them.
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About Cobra Group of Companies: Diversified group of sales, fundraising, investment, training, software development and technology companies.
Eli Talmor
Chairman of Cipia (formerly Eyesight Technologies)
Eli Talmor is a professor at London Business School and was previously on the finance faculty of UCLA and Wharton. He serves on the board of governors of Tel Aviv University and the advisory board of the African Venture Capital Association among others. A renowned authority on private equity, he testified to the UK Parliament and advised the UK Prime Minister’s Office. Business-wise he is a serial cornerstone investor with multiple exits, notably a co-founder of SunRay Renewable Energy which was acquired in one of Europe’s largest venture exits of that year.
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About Coller Institute of Private Equity: Cipia, formerly Eyesight Technologies, is a leading provider of computer vision AI based solutions for the automotive in-cabin industryץ
Joshua Pennell
Founder and Chairman of IOActive
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About IOActive, ISSA-UK: IOActive is a security consultancy with a global presence and deep expertise spanning hardware, software, and wetware.
Stephen Bullock
Exec Chairman of Autologyx
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About Autologyx, Beacon Capital: Autologyx is the next-generation Fabric Automation Platform for enterprise businesses.
Norman Fraser
Co-founder, Executive Chairman of SoftIron
Norman Fraser Co-Founded and led successful international technology businesses, including Vocalis (IPO) and Endava (ranked as a Leader in the IAOP Global Outsourcing 100 list). A former Visiting Fellow at Henley Business School, UK, he is currently Visiting Professor at Aalborg University, Denmark.
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About Escher Group, SoftIron: SoftIron creates high-performing, scalable, flexible, reliable, and efficient storage solutions for the modern-day enterprise.
Chris (Sam) Sanders
Chairman of Shoprocket
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About : Sell from your existing website, social media and more, in minutes
Rob O’Donovan
Co-Founder & Chairman of Charlie
Rob O’Donovan works as Chairman and Co-founder for The Eleven.
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About Charlie, The Eleven: Charlie is the HR software for small teams with big ideas.
Alberto Gabbai
Chairman and CEO of Cezanne HR
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About Cezanne HR: Comprehensive Cloud HR software for mid-sized UK & international businesses
Nigel Knowles
Chairman of The Link App
Sir Nigel Knowles is a former Global Co-Chairman and Senior Partner of DLA Piper, having served as Global Co-CEO and Managing Partner for nearly twenty years before. He is credited with DLA Piper’s remarkable growth, leading the firm through a series of merges and taking the firm from its regional origins to the global firm it is today. He received a knighthood in 2009 in recognition of his services to the legal industry. In 2015, Legal Business awarded Sir Nigel a “Lifetime Achievement Award” and in April 2016 Sir Nigel was given the Financial News “Editor’s Choice” award for lifetime achievement. Sir Nigel is Chairman of Sheffield City Region LEP and a Trustee of The Prince’s Trust. He was High Sheriff of Greater London 2016/17.
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About BioSURE, DWF, The Link App: The Link App is an easy-to-use platform that reinvents a law firm’s client experience.
Antony Jenkins
Founder & Executive Chairman of 10xbanking
Antony’s focus on driving innovation in the digital economy also extends to his role as Group Chairman of Currencies Direct, the leading UK non-bank provider of foreign exchange and international payment services; and his role as a board member of Blockchain, the world’s leading software platform for digital assets. He is a Board Director of Fannie Mae, sitting on the US mortgage lender’s Strategic Initiatives and Technology Committee and the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. Antony is a strong believer in the need for businesses to support the future workforce to acquire the right skills to thrive in the digital era; his commitment to education is recognised in his role as Chair of the Institute for Apprenticeships, an employer-led organisation established to promote high-quality apprenticeships by 2020. He was previously the Group CEO of Barclays plc for three years until July 2015.
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About 10xbanking: 10xbanking offers a digital banking platform that will transform the way financial services providers operate.
Percy Barnevik
Honorary Chairman of Sandvik
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About Sandvik: Sandvik is an engineering group with products that enhance customer productivity, profitability, and sustainability.
Mike Tobin
Chairman of Ultraleap
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About : Ultraleap is working to create the most remarkable connection between people and technology.
Justin Pike
Founder & Chairman of MYPINPAD
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About : INVENTORS OF THE WORLD’S FIRST SOFTWARE PAYMENTS TERMINAL
Richard Constant
Executive Chairman of Living PlanIT SA
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About Living PlanIT SA, Planit Ventures: Living PlanIT SA is a software development and data analysis company that developed the first Urban Operating System.
Mike Hedger
Chairman of Conversocial
Mike Hedger has a track record in building market-leading companies. Mike was previously CEO of email archiving company KVS from its inception in 1999 to its successful sale to Veritas for $225 million in 2004 (now Symantec Enterprise Vault). Before that, he served as EVP Worldwide Operations at Forte, building the European business before moving to head up Worldwide Operations which culminated in a successful acquisition by Sun for $700 million. Mike’s earlier career included positions as VP Marketing Operations EMEA for Oracle, Managing Director UK and Northern Europe for INGRES/ASK and successful sales careers at both WANG and IBM. Mike is also the chairman of Mimecast and eCommera.
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About : Conversocial is a Customer Experience Platform for Messaging Channels.
Frank Foxall
Chairman of Camwood
Led the buyout of Camwood’s Venture Capital investors Matrix and Foresight in a deal completed on 26th April 2012. This represented another milestone in the extraordinary journey of the world’s foremost specialists in application intelligence and ‘Enlightened Migration’. Frank was also one of the original founders of App-DNA in 2008 and subsequently acquired by Citrix in October 2011 in a deal worth nearly $100million. As well as Chairman of Camwood, other investments include Rimo3 and Norskale.
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About Camwood: Camwood is an IT services business that specialises in application migration and portfolio management.
Mark Liddington
Chairman of DataSet Analysis
Wealth management, Investment management
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About UBS: DSA is an early stage medtech startup company that aims to bring research and diagnostics software to the business market.
Adam de Courcy Ling
Chairman of Blackdot Solutions
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About Blackdot Solutions: Investigations software
Joe Saumarez Smith
Chairman of Bede Gaming
Joe Saumarez Smith has worked in the online gambling industry for 18 years. He is currently chairman of Bede Gaming, the leading online gambling platform. He is also a non executive director of the British Horseracing Authority. Joe is an investor in numerous online gaming businesses, including IPS which was recently sold to Leo Vegas for £65m.
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About Bede Gaming: Bede Gaming is the first choice supplier of software to the online gambling and social gaming industries.
Martin Scott
Chairman of CreditLogic
Partner, Global private equity firm, the Riverside Company. Previously Partner and Head of Operations, KPMG – London; Investment Managing Director, Crownway Private Equity – London and Dublin; Consultant, McKinsey & Company – London and Dublin. Ph, D. Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence – Cambridge University; BA Computer Science – Trinity College Dublin
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About CreditLogic: CreditLogic is a B2B digital mortgage lending platform enabling banks to provide new mortgages faster, cheaper and easier.
Iain Ferguson
Chairman of Red Ant
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About : Red Ant is a technology partner that empowers retailers to connect online with offline, delivering fully connected retail experiences.
David Hammond
Non Executive Chairman of Team Satchel
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About Team Satchel: Team Satchel develops a range of school software focusing on homework, behavior, classroom management, and teaching resources.
John Pluthero
Chairman of the Board of Directors of MyAppConverter
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About : Mobile Application Code Conversion
David Clayton
Chairman of Solar Archive
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About Cryoserver FCS, Solar Archive: Solar Archive A multi-purpose email archive, tailored to your customers.
Christofer Solheim
Chairman, Chief Innovation Officer of Commetric Ltd.
Mr. Christofer Solheim founded Commetric Ltd. in 2005. Prior to Commetric, Mr. Solheim worked in various roles at Hill & Knowlton Public Relations spanning 10 years, including leading H&K s Business Intelligence unit and latterly providing executive counsel to Paul Taaffe, global Chief Executive Officer of Hill & Knowlton. In the 80s and 90s, he consulted full time for the Chief Executive Officer of Kaldnes de Groot and spent two years at Heerema in Oslo. Since 1992, he has pioneered the use of advanced technologies to revolutionize business and communications strategic planning. In 2003, he was the Principle Founder of 2B, a company specializing in quantitative reputation measurement, later acquired by Factiva, a Reuters & Dow Jones Company. Prior to founding 2B, he was the founding Director of H&K s Net Communications practice. In 2007, he co-founded CommEq Asset Management to develop and implement fully automated behavioural finance trading methodologies. He was educated in business at the Academy of Commerce, Oslo, and in Computer Science at the University of Oslo.
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About Commetric Ltd.: Award-winning media analytics solutions that provide deeper, more practical level of insight. #MoreWithAnalytics
Gideon Harbour
Chairman of Optial
Before founding Optial, Gideon Harbour ran the London operations of a private investment trust focusing on technology and real estate. Prior to 1995 he was with the consulting firm McKinsey & Co working in the Sydney and Atlanta offices. At McKinsey he worked with clients in finance, insurance and the steel industry, specializing in change management. Gideon holds an MA from Oxford in PPE (Economics).
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About Optial: Optial is a successful global supplier of Enterprise-wide EHS, Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC).
Alexander Jarvis
Chairman of LogicSaaS – Beautiful Retail Automation
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About : LogicSaaS provides beautiful retailer automation software to manage and distribute your products
Dominic McGonigal
Founder & Chairman of JiveBird
Dominic McGonigal is the co-founder of JiveBird.
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About JiveBird: JiveBird is a unique digital consumer package targeted at the card & gift market – the next disruptive innovation in the greetings market.
Yann Gindre
Deputy Chairman and Head of Advisory board of Akoni Hub
Advisory Board Member, bringing international finance and diverse experience servicing corporate banking clients. Senior executive with global experience In Corporate Investment Banking, Hedge Funds with a front to back experience. Previous roles from 2004 to late 2012, include CEO Natixis, The Americas & CEO Natixis UK, Chairman of the New York and London Executive committees, Chairman of Natixis Alternative assets. Yann has been a financial consultant and a Director at UNPRI until 2015. Between 1988 and 2004 he was MD Global Head of DCM at JP Morgan Chase, UBS and Barclays Capital and Global Head of Markets at Commerzbank. Yann Gindre holds an MBA from London Business School.
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About Akoni Hub: Akoni provides simple cash management tools for individuals and SMEs.
David Priestley
Executive Chairman of Cuelogic Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
A career entrepreneur in technology for the Finance and Commodities sectors. Founder of 6 successful start ups over a 30 year career. Finalist in the 2001 Entrepreneur of the year and winner of the AIM Fastest Rising Share in 2003. Responsible for the creation of several hundred technology jobs in the sector and with an excess of over £100 million in exports achieved over the years Priestley remains committed to deploying the very latest technology using the very best software engineering talent. David was part of Gissing Software’s management team that sold the business to Reuters in 2008. David co-founded MDX Technology in 2010.
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About Cuelogic Technologies Pvt. Ltd., MDX Technology: Outsourced Product Development for leading edge startups and Fortune 500 enterprises looking to compete with unicorns.
Lady Barbara Judge
Independent Non-Executive Chairman of LoopUp
Lady Judge is a Senior Advisor to Triangle Growth Partners, and chairs the Investment Advisory Committee.Lady Judge, a trained commercial lawyer, has an unusually broad and successful international career as a senior executive, chairman and non-executive director in both the private and public sectors. She was previously a partner in a major US law firm specialising in corporate and financial transactions. In 1980 she was appointed by the President as a Commissioner of the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Thereafter she was appointed as the first woman executive director of News International and Samuel Montagu and held many positions in the financial services industry including Chair of the UK/US Committee on Corporate Governance and Senior Advisor to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. She is currently Chairman of the Energy Institute of University College London and Chairman of the UK Pension Protection Fund. In 2002 she was appointed as a director of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority and became its Chairman in 2004 and was reappointed in 2007. After completing two terms she was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Tepco Nuclear Reform Committee and Chairman of its Task Force on Nuclear Safety. She is also a member of the UAE Advisory Board for the Development of Peaceful Nuclear Energy. Lady Judge is a non-executive director of NV Bekaert SA (Belgium) and Magna International Inc (Canada) and a strategic advisor to a number of international corporations, including Statoil and Barclays. She is a member of the International Advisory Board of Sabanci University and a member of the Steering Committee of the Istanbul International Energy & Climate Center at Sabanci University. In addition she is currently a Visiting Fellow at Oxford University. In June 2010 she was awarded Commander of the British Empire in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to the nuclear and financial services industries. Lady Judge received a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and Juris Doctor with honours from New York University Law School.
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About University of Oxford: LoopUp is a premium remote meetings solution.
David Benello – Chairman
Chairman of V-Nova
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About : Next-generation video and image compression that works today
David Benello – Chairman
Chairman of V-Nova
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About : Next-generation video and image compression that works today
Roberto Rivero
Chairman of Vable
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About Vable: Vable is a software that helps companies manage all their sources of information in one place to deliver the best content to your audience.
Hugh Lloyd-Jukes
CEO and Chairman of Oxehealth
Hugh Lloyd-Jukes is the CEO and Chairman at Oxehealth.
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About Oxehealth: SaaS workflow solution gives carers and custodians more time for hands on care where and when it’s needed most.
Derek Banks
Executive Chairman of Liss Systems
A founder member and Managing Director (now Executive Chairman) of LISS Systems, Derek has spent all his working life, in a career spanning more than forty years, providing IT and Management Services to the Life Assurance Industry and the London Insurance Market from both an underwriting and broker perspective. He has been responsible for the introduction of significant application software packages (e.g. CAPS-I-L and LIFEfit) into the UK and European marketplace. He has held senior management positions within Life Assurance companies, Lloyds Broking firms and Application Software and Consultancy organisations operating in the Insurance market. Derek plays a key role in the development of LISSIA. He remains closely involved in the analysis, design and specification of major function for each new implementation of the system. He is also actively involved in the management and control of every LISSIA project.
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About Liss Systems: Liss Systems provides policy administration solutions.
Max Royde
Chairman of Trailight
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About Trailight: Trailight is a pioneering compliance technology business based in York and London.
Richard Baldock
Chairman of Advisory Board of GameFace Labs
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About : Worlds First ‘All In One’ standalone virtual reality headset and DARPA software platform for the next generation of VR gaming.
Graham Duff
Chairman of Opinsta
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About : Opinsta is a single platform to manage defect reporting (QA), health and safety checks, Inspections, 3rd party maintenance and more.
Pat Curran
Chairman of FSI
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About FSI: FSI provides workplace technology and services.
Roger Adcock
Chairman of Reactec
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About Reactec: Reactec is the market leader in monitoring and management support solutions for hand and arm vibration syndrome
David Hunter
Chairman of Pannovate
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About : Pannovate develop market leading card personalisation, and Augmented Reality tools for the card industry.
Simon Black
Chairman of Lexical Labs
Simon Black is the chairman and co-founder at Lexical Labs.
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About Lexical Labs: Lexical Labs is an AI-powered platform that helps lawyers to review their contracts and generate a counter-proposal.
Simon Black
Chairman of Lexical Labs
Simon Black is the chairman and co-founder at Lexical Labs.
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About Lexical Labs: Lexical Labs is an AI-powered platform that helps lawyers to review their contracts and generate a counter-proposal.
