Prop Firm Vest Labs Secures Rare $13M Pre-Seed
By Adonis Adoni
AI summary of the source article
New York-based proprietary trading firm Vest Labs has secured a $13 million pre-seed funding round led by Portal Ventures, alongside angel investments from senior executives at Citadel Securities, BlackRock, and KKR. Venture capital backing of this magnitude is uncommon for prop firms, which typically rely on bootstrapping. Founded by Justin Ma, Rikuya Takatsu, and Maximilian Tsiang, Vest Labs operates as a perpetual futures platform covering equities, crypto, commodities, and FX. The startup plans to allocate the capital toward expanding its 22-person team, developing a proprietary mobile app, and supporting 24/7 multi-asset trading.
Why it matters
Venture capital backing of this scale is rare in the prop trading industry, where firms typically bootstrap and rely on third-party software rather than developing proprietary in-house technology.
Key facts
- Vest Labs secured a $13 million pre-seed round led by Portal Ventures with angel backing from Citadel Securities, BlackRock, and KKR executives.
- The capital will be used to develop a mobile app, expand its 22-person team, and provide 24/7 multi-asset trading support.
- Vest Labs operates a perpetual futures platform spanning equities, crypto, commodities, and FX with 80% to 95% profit splits.