Vest Labs Raises $13 Million Seed Round to Build Profit-Sharing Crypto Proprietary Trading Platform

New York-based startup Vest Labs announced the completion of a $13 million seed funding round, which closed in July this year, led by Portal Ventures, with participation from individual investors including executives from Citadel Securities, BlackRock, and KKR. Vest was co-founded by University of Pennsylvania dropouts Justin Ma, Rikuya Takatsu, and Maximilian Tsiang. The platform allows qualified traders to trade perpetual futures contracts using company capital around the clock, with traders eligible for up to 80% profit sharing, differentiating it from traditional proprietary trading firms that charge users fees for simulated accounts. The company plans to use the funding to develop a mobile application, expand its 22-person team, and broaden the range of tradable asset classes.