Since their launch in 2016, Libryo has developed a smart platform that delivers laws to organisations in a simple-to-search and easy-to-read format. Through this product, Libryo aims to save businesses from the inconvenience of navigating through complex legal compliance research and, consequently, free up compliance professionals so they can focus on their core tasks.

Get to know their CEO and the story behind their start-up in this quick interview.   

Company name: Libryo
Founder: Peter Flynn
Based in: London
Launched: 2016

Q: In simple terms, what does your startup do?

Peter: Libryo is organising the world's law and making it available as data. On top of the data, we’re building a platform for applications, content, and services to be made available through an online marketplace. 

As a result, any person working at an organisation is able to know their laws easily—everywhere, and at any time.

Q: What problem/s do you seek to solve or help?

Peter: Ultimately, Libryo wants to contribute meaningfully to a world that operates more sustainably. We believe that the primary reason why people working in multinational organisations do not comply with the law is that it’s very difficult to know what it is and what they need to do to comply. We also believe that the law, created by society’s consensus on the best way to do things, is in many instances an excellent standard for the achievement of environmental, social, and financial sustainability.

Q: Are you funded and how?

Peter: Yes. Libryo has raised approximately £2.5m in early-stage venture capital. While we’re investing in growth ahead of revenue, we have healthy recurring revenues and strong revenue growth.

Q: What were you doing before you started Libryo?

Peter: I ran a software development consultancy that I co-founded in South Africa, building web-based software for customers all over the world. Then I bought an environmental and occupational health and safety compliance consultancy with Grant Gunston, Ulrik Strandvik and Garth Watson, partners of the firm of attorneys called Gunstons Strandvik.

Q: What inspired you to start Libryo?

Peter: Following some of what we’d learnt at the consultancy, when Garth Watson, Malcolm Gray and I met (the three Libryo cofounders), we agreed on this hypothesis. Law—if better understood by people working in global organisations and if optimised as content-specific legal data, using technology as an effective lever—could be used to meaningfully change global progress towards a more sustainable future.

Garth and Malcolm both had legal and environmental science backgrounds whilst I had worked as a software entrepreneur. Garth had worked as a corporate lawyer at Gunstons Strandvik, and Malcolm had worked 17 years in global asset management, with a particular focus on better investment decision-making informed by Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) considerations. 

We were inspired to do something global, ambitious, and innovative. We also agreed on the notion that has since become Libryo’s core foundational principle, namely: “Have fun, make money, do something good”. So, we founded Libryo as a vehicle to bring all of these core ideas together.

Q: What are your goals over the next five years? Where do you see yourself and Libryo?

Peter: The company set the following seven-year goals in 2017. By 2024 Libryo hopes to achieve:

1) #7in7 = Ingest and provide the law as data for all seven continents, essentially all global jurisdictions in seven years.

2) £100m in annual recurring revenues.

3) Be ready for an exit (merger, acquisition or listing) though we may not choose to do so.

I see myself being in whatever role best serves Libryo’s vision—perhaps still as CEO, but only if I’ve managed to continue to grow and evolve with the needs of the business—and if I’m still having fun! I see Libryo hitting its goals and having a meaningful, practical impact on global sustainability governance. We really have been blessed with exceptional people who have joined the business. Therefore, another thing I can see is Libryo being a catalyst for many other world-changing careers, within and beyond Libryo.

Images courtesy of Libryo. To learn more, visit the Libryo website.

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