Cuatrecasas launches unified innovation brand ‘Innova’ to centralise entrepreneurial and legal-tech efforts
Cuatrecasas, one of Spain’s top law firms, has launched a new brand — Cuatrecasas Innova — to bring together its expanding roster of innovation projects and enhance support for start-ups and tech ventures across Europe and Latin America.
The newly formed business unit encompasses the firm’s existing innovation schemes, including Cuatrecasas Acelera, its accelerator for legal start-ups; Cuatrecasas Fast Track, which pilots emerging technologies; and Cuatrecasas Ventures, the firm’s legal tech investment arm. Also under the Innova umbrella are the podcast Innovando Con Startups, legal training sessions Jornadas Legales, and the internal innovation think-tank Food4Brains.
Francesc Muñoz, Chief Information Officer at Cuatrecasas, said the initiative marks a decade of innovation leadership within the legal field. “After 10 years driving innovation at Cuatrecasas and in the legal sector, we launch Cuatrecasas Innova to better organise our growing initiatives and give them greater momentum,” he said.
The goal of the new brand is to foster “open innovation,” where collaboration, knowledge sharing, and practical tools are used to empower the broader entrepreneurial ecosystem. The initiative reflects a wider shift in the legal industry as firms reimagine how law can support and adapt to rapidly evolving business models.
More than 150 lawyers from Cuatrecasas offices in Spain, Portugal, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru are already engaged in providing legal support and mentorship to start-ups through the initiative. The firm expects Innova to facilitate new partnerships and legal-tech advancements in both domestic and international markets.
Embed from Getty ImagesPartner Diana Rivera, who specialises in venture capital and private equity, said Innova was a natural progression: “It allows us to extend our presence in the ecosystem with new initiatives, spaces and collaborations, ensuring innovation remains viable and sustainable from a legal perspective.”
Cuatrecasas joins a growing list of international law firms ramping up investment in tech and innovation. Cleary Gottlieb recently acquired London-based AI legaltech firm Springbok AI, while Herbert Smith Freehills launched a global digital legal delivery practice last May to combine tech and alternative legal services under a single umbrella. Meanwhile, Slaughter and May opened its fourth ‘Collaborate’ legaltech incubator last November, focusing on generative AI.
Despite such efforts, the International Bar Association warned earlier this year that the global legal profession remains largely unprepared for the long-term impact of AI, even as firms acknowledge its disruptive potential.
With Innova, Cuatrecasas aims to close that gap—aligning legal rigour with digital transformation, and ensuring the firm plays a central role in shaping the future of legal service delivery.
