Vest Labs secured a rare $13 million pre-seed round because it puts traders on live markets and shares profits. Portal Ventures led because that model already produced paid payouts, revenue and rapid growth. A prop-trading firm funds traders with firm capital and splits the profit.
New York-based Vest Labs closed the round in July 2026 and announced it Oct 7, Finance Magnates reported in its Finance Magnates report. The same report names University of Pennsylvania dropouts Justin Ma, Rikuya Takatsu and Maximilian Tsiang as cofounders behind Vest Markets. Trade press calls the financing pre-seed while funding databases label it seed.
Table of Contents
- What does Vest offer traders?
- Why is venture money rare in prop trading?
- What traction convinced investors?
- What will the $13 million build, and what is the risk?
What does Vest offer traders?
Vest gives qualifying traders firm capital to trade real perpetual futures, which trade continuously, according to Vest Capital docs (Vest Capital overview). Coverage spans equities, crypto, commodities and foreign exchange.
Traders keep 80 to 95 percent, while Vest keeps the rest. The pitch is performance-based access to capital. The constraint is evaluation and risk rules still decide who keeps it.
- Live firm capital for perpetual futures, open 24/7
- Markets across equities, crypto, commodities and FX
- Keep 80-95 percent after clearing evaluation and risk rules
Why is venture money rare in prop trading?
Most rival prop firms bootstrap instead of raising venture capital, Finance Magnates reported. Portal Ventures had backed crypto-trading infrastructure before, but Vest was its first prop-firm bet. That history explains why $13 million stands out. Finance Magnates reported personal angel checks from senior executives at Citadel Securities, BlackRock and KKR, not corporate investments by those firms.
Vest says it carries no exposure to traders wins or losses. It shares profits rather than taking the other side or living off simulated-account evaluation fees. For founders, the signal is business-model risk, not trader skill. Venture backs alignment when payout data supports it.
What traction convinced investors?
As of late September 2026, Vest reported about 27,000 traders, Vest said in a company announcement carried by ACN Newswire (announcement via ACN Newswire). Vest put paid share at about 26 percent in USDC, against about 7 percent industrywide.
It said monthly actives and volume were up over 300 percent month over month. Vest said it closed at $10 million in annualized revenue on $18 million in total raised. That mix helps explain a large pre-seed.
What will the $13 million build, and what is the risk?
Vest will use the financing for a mobile app, its 22-person team and in-house 24/7 multi-asset technology, Vest said. For operators, the priority is owned rails over rented tools.
Vest says traders still face a 10 percent evaluation target. Breaching loss limits closes the account. Founders and traders should weigh payout rate against those cutoffs before committing time or cash.