NEW YORK, NY (PinionNewswire)
Vest Labs, the company behind the Vest Markets trading platform, has raised $13 million in a round led by Portal Ventures to build the most trader-friendly cross-asset exchange. The company closed the round at $10 million in annualized revenue on $18 million raised in total. Since then, growth has accelerated sharply: daily revenue grew from $25,000 to over $1 million in two weeks in September. More than 27,000 traders now use the platform, most of whom are traditional markets traders who have never traded crypto or perps.
At Vest, traders have access not only to a full-fledged perpetual futures exchange, but also to an embedded retail prop trading platform. Retail prop trading, where traders pay a fee to prove their skill and then trade a firm’s capital for a share of the profits, has grown by around 45% in the past year. But most prop firms take the other side of their traders’ positions, so they make money when their traders lose. The result is complicated rules designed to end accounts before they pay out. Industry data suggests only around 7% of people who buy a prop firm evaluation are ever paid.
Vest is built differently. Vest is not exposed to its traders’ wins or losses, so it has no reason to write rules against them. Traders pay a one-time fee to trade in a simulated trading environment, can never lose more than that fee, and trade stocks, indices and crypto 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Vest’s recent hypergrowth among traditional markets traders comes from two things: trader-friendly rules and simplicity. As of late September, 26% of Vest traders had received a payout, nearly four times the industry average, and the exchange’s monthly active traders and volume have grown more than 300% month over month.
“Most prop firms make money when their traders lose, so the rules are built to make you fail,” said Justin Ma, founder and CEO of Vest. “We don’t make money when our traders lose, so we have no reason to work against them. We believe perpetual futures are the most trader-friendly way to trade with leverage, and that futures and options traders will move onto them. Funded accounts make that move easy, since traders can start without risking their own capital. This round lets us bring that to far more people.”
“Against all odds’ encapsulates what Vest is about. They say you need a massive marketing budget to win the attention economy. Vest did it with no ads, no token incentives, and no shortcuts. It is incredibly inspiring to witness this journey as an investor: just five years of relentless execution and an unwavering belief that the best product can sell itself,” said Catrina Wang, General Partner at Portal Ventures.
The raise comes as US markets move toward round-the-clock trading, with Nasdaq set to extend stock trading to 23 hours a day from December. Vest will use the funding to launch its mobile app, add new markets and grow the team.
About Vest
Vest builds trading products that give retail traders a fair shot. Vest Markets is a 24/7 venue for perpetual futures on stocks, indices, commodities, FX and crypto. Vest’s funded accounts let traders pay a one-time evaluation fee, trade with real buying power once they pass, and never lose more than that fee. Every funded trade is placed in the real market, so Vest never takes the other side of its traders’ positions. Vest is backed by Portal Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Amber Group, Selini Capital, Auros, Flowdesk and more.
Learn more at vestmarkets.com
