Technology’s appeal for private equity also lies in its intersection with other industry verticals. “Today, every industry is going through a degree of technology-enabled transformation that is driving a need for capital, whether that relates to AI, machine learning, quantum computing or cybersecurity, to give just a few examples,” says Ajay Pathak, a partner in law firm Goodwin’s Private Equity group. “But in addition to that, we have seen a huge expansion in the number of tech verticals capturing investor attention, covering everything from energy transition, digital infrastructure and healthtech through to defence tech, edtech and fintech.” Traditionally slow to embrace new technology, partly due to concerns around compliance and data privacy, the legal sector is now changing, Gemma Roberts, Private Equity partner at Goodwin, tells PE Hub. “An increasing focus on time and cost efficiency means the sector presents a huge market opportunity as a customer of legal tech."