Citadel, Jane Street, and JPMorgan Angels Back Theo, Network’s $20M Round Led by Hack VC and Anthos Capital

The new Theo network has raised $20 million in funding in a round led by Hack VC and Anthos Capital.

According to the press release shared with Cryptonews, the round also saw participation from a number of venture capital firms. These include Manifold Trading, Mirana Ventures, Metalayer Ventures, Flowdesk, SCB, MEXC, Amber Group, and Selini Capital.

Additionally, angel investors from traditional finance trading firms, including Citadel, Jane Street, JPMorgan, HRT, Optiver, IMC, and 5 Rings joined as well.

We’re excited to announce our $20m raise, led by @Hack_VC and Anthos Capital with participation from @ManifoldTrading, @mirana, @metalayervc, SCB, @ambergroup_io, @SeliniCapital, @MEXC_Official, and @flowdesk_co to democratize access to institutional-grade trading infrastructure. pic.twitter.com/Y5P4KwWt1x

Its creators describe Theo as an institutional-grade trading infrastructure platform that connects onchain capital to global markets.

Retail users can access the types of trading and strategies that used to be available only to Wall Street firms, the announcement argues.

Meanwhile, the project’s founders are former quant traders. Abhi Pingle, Arijit Pingle, and TK Kwon formerly worked at trading firms Optiver and IMC Trading. The founders have noticed a significant gap between the exponentially increasing onchain capital and low access to traditional and institutional-grade strategies for everyday users.

They state they’re launching Theo to bridge this gap. “Theo’s architecture is uniquely positioned to connect traditional and crypto-native financial venues,” the press release reads.

“As the industry evolves, Theo’s role as an infrastructure layer will be instrumental in bridging legacy markets and the onchain economy—democratizing access to advanced financial tools worldwide,” it concludes.

Per the team behind it, Theo’s trading infrastructure supports a range of strategies that are typically available exclusively to hedge funds and proprietary trading firms.

Its custom low-latency validator set ensures custodial guarantees for users, it claims. At the same time, it enforces rule-based access for institutional counterparties, such as market makers and trading firms.

Furthermore, validators enable real-time execution across centralized exchanges and decentralized protocols (DeFi). They also enforce margin requirements and maintain system-wide overcollateralization.

Under the hood, Theo is powered by a low-latency settlement network that executes trades across every major trading venue while autonomously maintaining margin requirements.

Retail users deposit into strategy-specific vaults to passively access professional trading strategies. Trading expertise and multiple exchange accounts are not needed, the team says.

Instead, the platform takes care of execution, risk, and dynamic capital allocation. They utilize approaches like high-frequency arbitrage, cross-chain funding rate optimization, and advanced hedging.

Additionally, the platform reallocates capital as market conditions change. “This flexibility ensures greater stability and performance for retail participants,” it argues.

As for trading firms, the announcement says, Theo enables “superior capital efficiency.” These firms can cross-margin strategy positions against their proprietary trades by leveraging user capital through vault participation. This method unlocks alpha “while users share in the upside.”

Co-founder Abhi Pingle argues that “today’s crypto markets are fragmented and inefficient, preventing institutions and everyday users alike from accessing the full promise of global, permissionless finance.” To solve this, Theo delivers “robust, scalable infrastructure that seamlessly connects large traditional players and retail participants on-chain—unlocking new levels of capital efficiency,” Pingle concludes.

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