Cases not Dismissed with New PortalSoft Software
May 9, 2008

Ajit Dandapani and his family have used $1.3 million of their own money to fund Mountain View-based PortalSoft over the past four years.

What they do: Comprehensive, electronic case management for small and medium-sized law firms. The software includes fast search and retrieval, works on standard equipment and doesn't require an IT department to manage. The product, Portal4Law, went on sale in 2008 and will officially launch at the annual meeting of the California Bar Association in September.

The current products on the market are expensive (starting from $50,000) and are limited in scope. Products, for example, might just target discovery or litigation solutions.

Likely competitors, direct or indirect: CT Summation Inc., LexisNexis's Time Matters, and Attenex Corp. But competitors focus on large law firms, not small and medium-sized firms.

Management team: Ajit Dandapani, founder and chief executive officer, has 25 years experience in product development, operations and management. Diana Hoffman, chief marketing officer/senior vice president, is an entrepreneur who started and grew a Silicon Valley law firm.

Board of advisors: Being formed.

Funding to date: $1.3 million self-funded by the founder and his family over the past four years.

Financing sought: $2 million from angel investors for single vertical product line; $5 million from venture capitalists for multiple verticals.

Partnerships, collaborations, or affiliations: In discussions with major distributors of software packages for the legal profession, hardware manufacturers, and value-added software development companies.

Federal or state grants, contracts or awards received: None at this stage.

Market size pursued: $500 million to $2 billion

Profit: Just out of beta in the first year of product sales

Annual revenue: $370,000 by December 2008