Hefty legal bills have forced Nuix to book a first-half loss, though the troubled tech company has started pouring money into research and development to jump-start some of the growth promised during its controversial IPO in 2020.

Nuix’s loss narrowed to $2.3 million for the six months ended December 31 from the $16.6 million shortfall in the year-earlier period, coming in at the higher end of guidance issued in a January trading update.