Theo, a network connecting on-chain capital to global markets via institutional-grade trading infrastructure, has raised $20 million in funding. The round was jointly led by Hack VC and Anthos Capital, with participation from venture capital firms including Manifold Trading, Mirana Ventures, Metalayer Ventures, Flowdesk, SCB, MEXC, Amber Group, and Selini Capital, as well as angels from a range of TradFi trading firms including Citadel, Jane Street, HRT, Optiver, IMC, 5 Rings, and JPMorgan.
Founded by former quant traders Abhi Pingle, Arijit Pingle, and TK Kwon, Theo was born from the realization that while on-chain capital is growing exponentially, access to traditional and institutional-grade strategies remains out of reach for everyday users. Theo said it aims to bridge this gap by delivering the sophistication of Wall Street to the retail investor.
Theo’s platform provides access to institutional-grade trading infrastructure that supports a range of strategies traditionally reserved for hedge funds and proprietary trading firms. At its core, it operates a custom low-latency validator set that ensures custodial guarantees for users, while enforcing rule-based access for institutional counterparties like market makers and trading firms.
These validators facilitate real-time execution across centralized exchanges and decentralized protocols, while enforcing margin requirements and maintaining system-wide over-collateralization. Retail users can access these strategies via a simple deposit into strategy-specific vaults without the complexity of multiple exchange accounts or algorithmic trading knowledge.
“Today’s crypto markets are fragmented and inefficient, preventing institutions and everyday users alike from accessing the full promise of global, permissionless finance,” said Pingle. “Theo solves this by delivering robust, scalable infrastructure that seamlessly connects large traditional players and retail participants on-chain—unlocking new levels of capital efficiency.”
Theo’s strategies allow anyone to passively access professional trading strategies by simply depositing assets, with the platform handling execution, risk, and dynamic capital allocation across approaches like high-frequency arbitrage, cross-chain funding rate optimization, and advanced hedging.
As market conditions shift, Theo’s infrastructure dynamically reallocates capital to maintain performance, where single-strategy platforms often see returns diminish. This flexibility ensures greater stability and performance for retail participants.
For trading firms, Theo leverages user capital through vault participation, allowing firms to cross-margin strategy positions against their proprietary trades, unlocking alpha while users share in the upside.