Outdated legacy systems still underpin most of the software used by longstanding industries. Modernizing these systems presents some of the biggest opportunities for B2B SaaS innovation. Our previous blog highlighted five core areas that Forum’s Venture Studio was excited to build transformative products in. Today, we turn our focus to traditional sectors like legal, energy, and engineering, where economic factors are creating massive opportunities in industries that are yet to be transformed.

At Forum, we go beyond investing in ideas; we co-create them. Our Venture Studio is designed for founders who aspire to turn ambitious visions into reality. By bringing together visionary founders, groundbreaking ideas, and the necessary capital, we aim to build the world's best B2B SaaS businesses from the ground up. Our unique model accelerates the journey from concept to creation, providing founders with the tools and support they need to develop deeper insights and achieve success at a higher rate than traditional startups. Join us as we explore the key areas we're building in and the untapped opportunities that await.

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Why Cobol, LegalTech, and Universal APIs Are Ripe for AI-Driven Disruption

Cobol

COBOL, an aging programming language incredibly popular in the 1970s, which still underpins a significant portion of the world's financial infrastructure. The challenge with COBOL is twofold: new developers are often unfamiliar with it, and it is notoriously difficult to write and maintain.

Most skilled COBOL programmers are ready to retire, and the new generation of developers often perceives COBOL as outdated, resulting in a significant gap between the supply and demand for COBOL talent, which can impact the quality and security of systems.

With recent advances in generative AI, there is a significant opportunity to assist developers in working with COBOL and to facilitate the transition of legacy COBOL code into modern languages like Java or Python.

Potential Solutions:

AI Co-pilot: An AI-driven assistant to help developers write and maintain COBOL code, increasing outputs and reducing the learning curve for new programmers.

Code Converter: AI tools built to accurately translate COBOL code into modern languages, ensuring the integrity and functionality of critical systems during the transition.

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Frivolous Lawsuit Detector

Large companies face thousands or even tens of thousands of lawsuits annually, putting immense pressure on in-house legal teams to swiftly evaluate the merit of each claim. 

A large portion of these lawsuits are frivolous in nature and are filed with the intent to get a quick payday or harass, annoy, or intimidate the defendant, rather than to achieve a legitimate legal outcome. These lawsuits typically lack a sound basis in law or fact.

The Brazilian Government recently collaborated with OpenAI to expedite, screen, and analyze lawsuits, reducing administrative overhead.

We see a significant opportunity to build a product that assists in-house legal teams by identifying frivolous lawsuits. While many AI tools focus on document review and legal research, our approach proactively targets the early detection of meritless claims, aiming to address potential issues before they escalate.

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Universal APIs (Plaid for X)

The Plaid business model, which simplifies connecting systems through a universal API, has been a homerun for companies like Plaid and Merge.dev. This approach has proven so effective that it's paving the way for similar models across various industries, providing seamless data integration and drastically reducing the time it takes to integrate into a category of software.

In the future almost every industry will have a universal API and we have identified 3 areas we think are ripe for this technology.

Areas of Interest

1. Property Development: Property development data is typically public but often unstructured and non-standardized. A universal API that offers access to unified data on zoning, permits, environmental regulations, and construction costs would allow builders to navigate the complexities of local compliance, and make informed decisions.
2. Ag-tech: As the agriculture industry rapidly adopts technology, it faces challenges with fragmented data systems. A universal API that consolidates essential data such as inputs, materials, labor, and equipment costs would streamline data integration and accessibility. 
3. Supply Chain: The supply chain and logistics industry is filled with legacy software and these systems historically are extremely difficult to build integrations for. A universal API to connect various software in the logistics industry would drastically reduce the amount of time it takes to build integrations between systems.

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Grid Interconnection

Grid interconnection, the process of connecting new energy sources to the main grid, faced a 30% increase in delays in 2023 due to a surge in requests. This bottleneck presents a major opportunity for innovation, especially in streamlining data collection, policy review, and the overall application lifecycle.

The current interconnection process, exemplified by New York’s process, involves multiple steps, including feasibility studies, reliability impact assessments, and regulatory compliance. While the market for interconnection solutions is still developing, the growing demand for faster grid connections, driven by increased investments in renewable energy, underscores the potential for new software solutions.

Despite the challenges of a limited customer pool and slow technology adoption, there is a significant opportunity to automate and expedite the interconnection process.

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Become a Founder 

We want to talk with domain experts who are interested in becoming founders and building solutions within these core areas. As a CEO, you’ll be leading the charge with a CTO, Designer, GTM, and validation experts by your side until your own team is hired. You’ll also have the support of recruitment, HR, legal, finance, and more to scale. If you’ve been wanting to take the founder leap, but haven't yet validated a product idea, or haven’t found a co-founder, this might be the opportunity you’ve been waiting for!

Forum de-risks and accelerates the Founder path by:

• Providing a vetted business idea and business model in a large market
• The support of our experienced operating team - from business design, product development, growth, recruitment, legal and more
• Executing a winning GTM strategy to get you to $50-100 ARR, and the right MVP to ensure early traction
• A $250K USD investment, and an end-to-end fundraising playbook and network to raise your seed and Series A
• A community full of mentors, peers, and leaders
• $100K worth of business perks

We understand the challenges of the entrepreneurial journey because we've been there ourselves. That's why we're committed to being your hands-on partner, providing not just funding but a deep, collaborative relationship.

If you’re interested in building with Forum please apply through the corresponding posting listed below. If none of these areas fit what you’re working on, feel free to apply through the Forum Studio Founder posting. Please highlight relevant experience and the area you’re most interested in.

Job Postings:

1. Cobol
2. Frivolous Lawsuit Detector
3. Universal APIs (Plaid for X)
4. Grid Interconnection

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