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Theo Labs, a new venture founded by former quantitative traders from Optiver and IMC Trading, has raised $20 million in seed funding to develop a network aimed at connecting onchain capital with institutional-grade trading infrastructure.
The funding round attracted investment from venture capital firms Hack VC and Anthos Capital, along with participation from others and angel investors from established trading firms like Citadel and Jane Street, according to an announcement today.
The core idea behind Theo is to provide retail users with access to sophisticated trading strategies typically employed by hedge funds and proprietary trading firms. Co-founders Abhi Pingle, Arijit Pingle, and TK Kwon aim to address the current fragmentation and inefficiencies in crypto markets, which often limit access to advanced financial tools for everyday investors.
“Today’s crypto markets are fragmented and inefficient, preventing institutions and everyday users alike from accessing the full promise of global, permissionless finance,” Abhi said. “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 is developing a platform underpinned by a custom low-latency validator set. This infrastructure is designed to facilitate real-time trade execution across both centralized (CEX) and decentralized (DeFi) venues, while also managing margin requirements and maintaining overcollateralization for user funds. Retail users will be able to participate in various trading strategies by depositing assets into specific vaults, abstracting away the complexities of managing multiple exchange accounts and algorithmic trading, the announcement said.
The initial strategies offered through Theo will include approaches like high-frequency arbitrage and cross-chain funding rate optimization. The platform intends to dynamically reallocate capital across these strategies in response to changing market conditions, aiming for more stable performance compared to single-strategy platforms.
For institutional trading firms, Theo could offer increased capital efficiency by allowing them to cross-margin their proprietary trades against user capital within the vaults, potentially enhancing returns for both the firms and the users who share in the upside.
