An amazing enterprise thought is just not sufficient to get a brand new startup or SME rolling. Lots of them face important authorized challenges within the early phases from a lack of expertise of related legal guidelines and requisite licences and permits to the shortcoming to keep up correct company and HR documentation in addition to emblems. Founders typically flip to buddies or family who’re attorneys in an try to save cash — solely to obtain misguided recommendation and find yourself in a cycle of authorized issues. However a Gurugram-based startup desires to alter that by providing complete authorized companies on an inexpensive, month-to-month subscription foundation, serving to companies keep away from authorized loopholes whereas additionally offering paperless trademark submitting companies.
Based in late 2024 by company lawyer Raman Gupta, Digital Advo is a Gurugram-based authorized startup with the only real goal of serving to small and mid-sized companies, in addition to startups, keep away from frequent authorized pitfalls and missteps. “What we got down to do is assist anybody working a brand new enterprise —particularly SMEs— who can’t afford the excessive value of authorized counsel or a full staff of attorneys. We’re providing entry to an skilled authorized staff — not advocates — by a month-to-month retainership mannequin,” Gupta instructed indianexpress.com in an interview.
“Within the final six to seven months, engaged on Digital Advo, I’ve realised there’s a large requirement for in-house authorized individuals in enterprise, now greater than ever. However the companies are sometimes too costly. It’s troublesome for startups to afford them. On the similar time, many startup founders don’t totally perceive key authorized features, and there’s an actual want to coach them,” he stated.
The startup goals to deliver down the price of trademark submitting and make it accessible to everybody, no matter location.
“Paying Rs 1 lakh per 30 days for an in-house authorized skilled is a large expense for a brand new startup,” Gupta defined, including how he’s altering that with a subscription mannequin that drastically reduces the price of authorized advise.
The concept, as defined by Gupta, is to have “contract authorized consultants” accessible on demand. These are professionals who can draft, vet, and negotiate contracts; present compliance and advisory help on new legal guidelines and laws such because the implementation of the DPDP Act, IT Act, and POSH; and help with coverage drafting and implementation, all whereas sustaining full confidentiality of the enterprise. Every advisor handles as much as three shoppers, following a mannequin much like typical consultations.
Gupta stated the essential plan begins as little as Rs 25,000 and relies on the variety of hours a authorized advisor will spend with a shopper. “For instance, it might be 5 hours per week, or 10 to fifteen hours, relying on the shopper’s wants. The pricing is calculated accordingly.”
It’s primarily a cost-sharing mannequin, the place a number of shopper companies share the price of a single authorized useful resource. The mannequin entails hiring contract attorneys and drafting specialists who can serve a number of shoppers, thereby lowering the excessive value of authorized companies.
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The mannequin entails hiring contract attorneys and drafting specialists who can serve a number of shoppers, lowering the excessive value of authorized companies.
Up to now few years, the idea of authorized tech has gained prominence, with a number of firms now providing companies that present on-demand entry to attorneys. Even particular person attorneys and advocates are starting to supply their companies by subscription-based fashions. Nevertheless, Gupta says their method is totally different: not simply centered on “advisory,” however on data sharing. That is made potential by a devoted staff of authorized specialists who perceive the nuances of various industries and markets.
Gupta stated he desires to work with individuals who deliver new concepts and are available from numerous domains. “A person lawyer might not have that stage of experience… What our startup does is take a 360-degree view of the enterprise and tailor our companies to the shopper’s particular wants.”
“We perceive our shoppers’ companies and their particular wants,” he stated, including that this helps them work intently with shoppers and collaborate on new concepts. “We even have two to 3 staff members solely devoted to analysis.” Gupta has 5 to seven authorized specialists in-house, whereas the remainder are freelancers.
However the subscription mannequin, which presents tailored authorized companies primarily based on shopper wants, is just one a part of the story. Gupta additionally plans to make trademark searches and registrations extra accessible and inexpensive in India. With roughly 5 lakh emblems filed yearly in India, Gupta believes there’s a actual market alternative that continues to be untapped, and a necessity for standardised processes and inexpensive companies.
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“For submitting emblems, trademark attorneys are solely accessible in tier-1 cities of India, and it’s an actual hustle to discover a trademark legal professional in tier-3 and tier-4 cities,” he stated. Submitting a trademark can value wherever between Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000, however Gupta’s Digital Advo is bringing the fee right down to Rs 1,500 (excluding the federal government charge), providing the comfort of submitting a trademark from wherever in India.
What Gupta’s startup has finished is create a web based trademark submitting portal that automates the TM 48 type, the authority type, and simplifies your complete submitting course of. All customers—whether or not they’re new companies, manufacturers, or startup homeowners—have to obtain the shape, fill within the particulars, and ship it to Digital Advo through courier. Inside 24 hours, Gupta’s startup will file the applying and share the applying acknowledgment through e-mail. Gupta claims the digital trademark registration could be finished in lower than 5 minutes.
For Gupta, the imaginative and prescient is to launch an associates program that enables people and companies to earn commissions by submitting trademark functions to Digital Advo. “We haven’t launched the associates program but, as we’re presently trying into some regulatory points and whether or not any approvals are required for compliance,” he stated.
Gupta, who’s presently a associate at Emerge Authorized, says he spends 15 to twenty hours per week on Digital Advo. The startup is bootstrapped, and Gupta has no plans to pursue fundraising for now.