This Gurugram-based startup offers legal support on subscription | Technology News
A great business idea is not enough to get a new startup or SME rolling. Many of them face significant legal challenges in the early stages from a lack of understanding of relevant laws and requisite licences and permits to the inability to maintain proper corporate and HR documentation as well as trademarks. Founders often turn to friends or relatives who are lawyers in an attempt to save money — only to receive misguided advice and end up in a cycle of legal complications. But a Gurugram-based startup wants to change that by offering comprehensive legal services on an affordable, monthly subscription basis, helping businesses avoid legal loopholes while also providing paperless trademark filing services.
Founded in late 2024 by corporate lawyer Raman Gupta, Virtual Advo is a Gurugram-based legal startup with the sole aim of helping small and mid-sized businesses, as well as startups, avoid common legal pitfalls and missteps. “What we set out to do is help anyone running a new business —especially SMEs— who can’t afford the high cost of legal counsel or a full team of lawyers. We are offering access to an expert legal team — not advocates — through a monthly retainership model,” Gupta told indianexpress.com in an interview.
“In the last six to seven months, working on Virtual Advo, I have realised there is a huge requirement for in-house legal people in business, now more than ever. But the services are often too expensive. It’s difficult for startups to afford them. At the same time, many startup founders don’t fully understand key legal aspects, and there’s a real need to educate them,” he said.
The startup aims to bring down the cost of trademark filing and make it accessible to everyone, regardless of location.
“Paying Rs 1 lakh per month for an in-house legal expert is a huge expense for a new startup,” Gupta explained, adding how he is changing that with a subscription model that drastically reduces the cost of legal advise.
The idea, as explained by Gupta, is to have “contract legal consultants” available on demand. These are professionals who can draft, vet, and negotiate contracts; provide compliance and advisory support on new laws and regulations such as the implementation of the DPDP Act, IT Act, and POSH; and assist with policy drafting and implementation, all while maintaining full confidentiality of the business. Each consultant handles up to three clients, following a model similar to typical consultations.
Gupta said the basic plan starts as low as Rs 25,000 and is based on the number of hours a legal consultant will spend with a client. “For example, it could be five hours a week, or 10 to 15 hours, depending on the client’s needs. The pricing is calculated accordingly.”
It’s essentially a cost-sharing model, where multiple client businesses share the cost of a single legal resource. The model involves hiring contract lawyers and drafting experts who can serve multiple clients, thereby reducing the high cost of legal services.
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The model involves hiring contract lawyers and drafting experts who can serve multiple clients, reducing the high cost of legal services.
In the past few years, the concept of legal tech has gained prominence, with several companies now offering services that provide on-demand access to lawyers. Even individual lawyers and advocates are beginning to offer their services through subscription-based models. However, Gupta says their approach is different: not just focused on “advisory,” but on knowledge sharing. This is made possible by a dedicated team of legal experts who understand the nuances of different industries and markets.
Gupta said he wants to work with people who bring new ideas and come from diverse domains. “An individual lawyer may not have that level of expertise… What our startup does is take a 360-degree view of the business and tailor our services to the client’s specific needs.”
“We understand our clients’ businesses and their specific needs,” he said, adding that this helps them work closely with clients and collaborate on new ideas. “We even have two to three team members solely dedicated to research.” Gupta has five to seven legal experts in-house, while the rest are freelancers.
But the subscription model, which offers tailor-made legal services based on client needs, is only one part of the story. Gupta also plans to make trademark searches and registrations more accessible and affordable in India. With approximately five lakh trademarks filed annually in India, Gupta believes there is a real market opportunity that remains untapped, and a need for standardised processes and affordable services.
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“For filing trademarks, trademark attorneys are only available in tier-1 cities of India, and it’s a real hustle to find a trademark attorney in tier-3 and tier-4 cities,” he said. Filing a trademark can cost anywhere between Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000, but Gupta’s Virtual Advo is bringing the cost down to Rs 1,500 (excluding the government fee), offering the convenience of filing a trademark from anywhere in India.
What Gupta’s startup has done is create an online trademark filing portal that automates the TM 48 form, the authority form, and simplifies the entire filing process. All users—whether they are new businesses, brands, or startup owners—need to download the form, fill in the details, and send it to Virtual Advo via courier. Within 24 hours, Gupta’s startup will file the application and share the application acknowledgment via email. Gupta claims the virtual trademark registration can be done in less than 5 minutes.
For Gupta, the vision is to launch an affiliate program that allows individuals and businesses to earn commissions by submitting trademark applications to Virtual Advo. “We haven’t launched the affiliate program yet, as we are currently looking into some regulatory issues and whether any approvals are required for compliance,” he said.
Gupta, who is currently a partner at Emerge Legal, says he spends 15 to 20 hours a week on Virtual Advo. The startup is bootstrapped, and Gupta has no plans to pursue fundraising for now.
