// startup autopsy

DolphinSearch

Legal search tech ahead of its time, behind on traction

timingSilent Shutdown

Quiet closure with no public announcement · Fatal mistake: DolphinSearch entered the legal e-discovery market before mandatory regulatory frameworks created demand, meaning it had to sell change management rather than solving a burning compliance problem.

Founded	2001
Closed	2006
Country	USA
Sector	Legaltech

50%

Key Events Timeline

2001-01-01

FOUNDING

DolphinSearch founded to bring intelligent search and e-discovery tools to the legal sector.

2002-06-01

PRODUCT LAUNCH

Launches legal document search platform targeting Am Law 200 firms and corporate legal teams.

2004-01-01

FUNDING

Secures last funding round as it attempts to expand sales team and accelerate law firm adoption.

2005-06-01

LAYOFF

Headcount reduced significantly as sales fail to materialize at expected pace.

2006-06-01

SHUTDOWN

DolphinSearch quietly shuts down operations, a casualty of premature market entry.

Full Analysis

Analyst plan

Documented cause

DolphinSearch offered e-discovery and legal document search technology at a time when the market was nascent and law firms were resistant to technology adoption. Competition from larger established legal resear...

ch platforms and insufficient differentiation led to closure after funding dried up post-2004.

Verified lesson

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€12M

Peak valuation

HypeCycle · MoatType · ResearchTags

DolphinSearch raised €10M before dolphinsearch entered the legal e-discovery market before mandatory regulatory frameworks created demand, meaning it had to sell change management rather than solving a burning compliance problem. ended it. See the documented cause, verified lesson and all failure signals.

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