Hona - The Client Comms Platform for Lawyers

Company & Team Introduction

Hona is the client communication platform built for law firms to bridge the information gaps between attorneys and their clients, a common pain point when going through the legal process. The company was founded in 2021 by the trio of Manny Griffiths (CEO), Matt McClellan (Operations), and Josh Christensen (CTO) after Manny had a terrible personal experience with the legal system after his wife got in a car accident. During the claims process, he was stunned by the lack of updates and communication during this stress-inducing time. After 2 years of back and forth, he knew there had to be a way to increase communications for both parties during this process, and they were a good fit to try and solve it. Prior to the founding of Hona, Manny worked as an Account Executive at fellow Utah-based Legaltech startup Filevine, where he worked with Matt, who was the Business Development Team Lead, before leaving Filevine to take an Account Executive role at Scorpion. Josh held various roles before Hona, including co-founding an e-commerce startup, J-Slips Hawaii, as a side project in college and scaling it to $1M in revenue in year 2. He also held positions as Technical Consultant and Software Engineer at Qualtrics and a Software Engineer at Route. The founding team’s blend of vertical expertise, coupled with their technical and sales experience, positions them well to build the best product available and become an invaluable asset to the legal industry. Hona is based in Lehi, Utah and has scaled its workforce to ~64 employees.

Product Overview

Hona offers a range of features on its platform designed to streamline communication between clients and law firms, creating a more transparent and efficient legal process. Here is an overview of the key features driving platform adoption amongst legal professionals:

Client Communication Management: Hona’s platform provides automated updates on case progress, allowing law firms to keep clients informed in real time. This feature reduces the need for excessive messaging while ensuring clients are aware of important developments.

Mobile and Web Portal: Hona includes a user-friendly mobile and web portal that enhances accessibility for both clients and legal professionals. Clients can easily access updates and communicate with their lawyers through a secure interface.

Integration Capabilities: Hona seamlessly integrates with several popular legal and CRM tools such as Filevine, HubSpot, PracticePanther, and Salesforce. This connectivity helps legal teams consolidate their workflows and leverage existing tools within their practice.

Data Security: Hona prioritizes the security of sensitive legal data. It employs SSL encryption for secure communication and offers features such as role-based permissions and secure data storage to protect client information.

Customizable Communication Tools: The platform allows law firms to send personalized communications based on client needs, enhancing engagement. Features like two-way messaging, video updates, and FAQ management are included to facilitate effective communication.

Reporting and Analytics: Hona provides analytics tools to help law firms track engagement and utilization metrics. This data can be invaluable for improving client service and operational efficiency.

Feedback Management: The platform incorporates feedback mechanisms to gauge client satisfaction and improve services based on user input.

Total Addressable Market

Hona is well positioned to serve the legal sector, with the total addressable market for legal technology estimated to be ~$31.59B in 2024 based on research from Fortune Business Insights. In addition to the already enormous market size, the market is forecasted to grow at a 9.1% CAGR through 2032, driven primarily by advancements in AI and automation technologies. These innovations help further extend Hona’s total addressable market, shaping a potential ~$63.59B opportunity by 2032.

Business Model & The Numbers

Hona operates using a subscription-based model, with custom pricing tailored to each client's feature and usage needs. Hona’s business is already generating significant revenue, having surpassed $1M in ARR by July 2023. The company is also growing incredibly fast, having stated they grew over 400% in 2023 during their Series A funding announcement, but up-to-date revenue numbers haven’t been disclosed.

Traction

Having just launched their product to the public in February 2023, Hona has seen incredible traction. Over 500 law firms use Hona, including customers such as Hoffspiegel Law, AWK Legal, Singleton Schreiber, and Liner Legal and has been used by over 308,000 clients. In April alone, Hona processed over a million text messages on behalf of law firms, updating their clients on where they currently are in the legal process. Hona is also driving improvements in customer satisfaction for law firm clients, as their customers have seen up to a 20% increase in 5-star reviews in the first month following the implementation of Hona. The company was also named an emerging company at the Utah Business Fast 50.

Competitors

The competitive landscape for Client Portal software is promising. Hona has positioned itself well within the Legaltech vertical, with its main competition being casestatus.com. Case Status was founded in 2017 by attorney Lauren Gulley and entrepreneur Andy Seavers. Both companies offer a similar suite of communication tools, including messaging, automated client updates, drip campaigns, tracking client reviews/feedback, and the ability for a law firm to add its own branding. Hona’s platform differentiates itself by having a more user-friendly interface that is easy to navigate for non-technical legal staff, while Case Status offers a broader range of integrations. Case Status most recently raised a $19.7M Series B round in October 2024, is based in Charleston, South Carolina, and has ~48 employees.

Funding

Hona is well-capitalized, having raised three rounds of equity funding. The company’s first capital injection came from its participation in the infamous YCombinator’s W23 batch, where the company received the standard 500k investment for completing the program. Hona’s next funding round was a proper $2.1M seed round in July 2023, led by YCombinator, Ludlow Ventures, and Soma Ventures. The company’s subsequent funding round was in June 2024, raising a $9.5M Series A round spearheaded by Costanoa Ventures with follow-on participation from Ludlow Ventures, Soma Ventures and YCombinator doubling down on their initial investments. To date, Hona has raised $12.1M in total funding.