COPENHAGEN, March 10 (Reuters) - Sweden-based legal AI startup Legora said on Tuesday it had raised $550 million at a $5.55 billion valuation in a Series D funding round to accelerate its expansion across the United States.

"Over the past year, the pace of adoption in the U.S. has exceeded our expectations, as leading firms and in-house teams move decisively from experimentation to embedding AI across their organisations," Legora CEO Max Junestrand said in a statement.

• The round was led by Accel and existing investors Benchmark, Bessemer Venture Partners, General Catalyst, ICONIQ, Redpoint Ventures and Y Combinator also participated.

• New investors, including Alkeon Capital, Bain Capital, FirstMark Capital, Menlo Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, Sands Capital and Starwood Capital also participated.

• "This funding enables us to accelerate our U.S. growth - investing in talent and infrastructure, strengthening our presence in key markets, and ensuring we can support customers on the ground as they integrate AI into their core workflows," Junestrand said in a statement.

• The company expects to open additional hubs and grow to more than 300 employees across its U.S. offices by the end of 2026.

• The company in October raised $150 million, valuing it at $1.8 billion.

(Reporting by Louise Rasmussen, editing by Kirsten Donovan)

((Louisebreusch.rasmussen@tr.com; +45 21 27 97 79;))