After a while, Danae Shell heard the same story over and over again.

“It’s going to be bad things happen to someone at work and the story always ends the same way,” she told TechCrunch. “They just left because doing anything else is very complicated and expensive.”

No need to pay attention, for many people, the search for legal help feels so difficult and complicated that many people just don't try. Even for those with comfortable tech jobs, the prospect of battling their company is daunting.

She was so troubled that in 2022 she launched Valla, which aims to make it easier for workers to get legal support.

The company focuses on employment laws, and since its inception, more than 12,000 workers have successfully filed complaints against employers and negotiated settlements.

"The basic paper of Valla is, 'If we can build tools for someone to file a tax return from a mobile phone, then we can certainly build something that can help them manage their own legal issues," Shell said.

The Valla platform enables users to collect their own evidence, generate documents, and then talk to legal experts who “coach” them through legal procedures at each stage of the case. For example, users could track ongoing issues at work, draft court claims, and then purchase coaching packages to prepare for a preliminary hearing, Shell said.

Like nearly every other startup today, Valla uses AI to simplify knowledge transfer. "The Genai Engine on our platform serves as the legal secretary in the backstage," Shell said. "Pick up all administrators and reminders from briefing the case to coaches, taking notes and actions during any phone calls, and as the case progresses."

Investors seem to like what they see in Valla: Today, the company said it has raised a £2 million (about $2.7 million) seed round led by Ada Ventures. Active partners and portfolio venture capital and investor TechStart and Desolution Foundation have also invested.

Valla has been using generative AI since early 2023 and paired with the early traction her products receive, which helped investors see the potential of her products, Shell said.

The company will use new capital to enhance marketing, build relationships with unions and insurers, and build more AI capabilities within the platform. Shell said the company hopes to expand it to small claims and leases.

"We will then expand to other geographical locations," she said. "We are already looking at opportunities in the United States and Europe."