Abhi Pingle, a sharp mind in the trading world, is aiming to level the playing field for everyday investors. After spending a year and a half at Optiver, a leading firm specializing in high-frequency trading (HFT), Pingle observed the immense advantages that “quants” – traders with advanced programming and quantitative skills – possess. He believes retail investors deserve a chance to access similar strategies. To achieve this, Pingle, alongside his brother Arijit Pingle and TK Kwon, has secured $20 million in funding across two rounds to launch Theo, a platform designed to empower users with trading techniques typically reserved for top-tier HFT institutions.
The startup garnered $4.5 million in seed funding during March 2024. This initial investment was spearheaded by Manifold Trading, a firm specializing in quantitative investment. A year later, the trio successfully closed a second funding round, raising $15.5 million. This round was led by Hack VC, a cryptocurrency-focused investor, and Anthos Capital. Their company also attracted investment from Flowdesk, Selini Capital, and individual investors with ties to prominent firms such as Citadel, JPMorgan, Jane Street, and Optiver.
Both funding rounds involved token warrants, representing future allocations of a yet-to-be-released digital currency. Abhi Pingle, currently 26 years old, opted not to disclose the most recent valuation of his emerging company.
Theo, taking its name from the financial term “theoretical price,” operates within the decentralized finance (DeFi) sphere. DeFi applications aim to provide users with financial services, such as loans and cryptocurrency trading, without relying on traditional centralized entities like banks or brokerages. According to DefiLlama, as of Thursday, investors and traders have committed approximately $95 billion to DeFi protocols and applications. However, Pingle informed Fortune that Theo’s vision extends beyond the confines of solely DeFi applications.
Pingle and his co-founders are alumni of Northwestern University, where they pursued degrees in computer science. Subsequently, all three worked at both Optiver and IMC Trading. In 2022, they departed from their HFT roles to concentrate on Canto, a blockchain project focused on DeFi. Canto experienced initial success before its fortunes diminished during a downturn in the cryptocurrency market.
Towards the end of 2023, the trio made the decision to become entrepreneurs and establish Theo. “Our goal is to streamline the decision-making process and user interaction, making it as simple as depositing funds – similar to investing in a money market fund,” Pingle explained.
Since launching their trading platform in June, the co-founders have seen users deposit approximately $50 million into their protocol. Pingle reported that, over the preceding three months, users have experienced average yields ranging from 7% to 8%. Furthermore, measured over the past year, users, including family offices and investment funds, have realized returns between 18% and 20%.
The team intends to eliminate the current deposit limit for investors by the end of April. While their protocol has primarily interacted with established DeFi applications like Aave and Hyperliquid, they plan to test their trading strategies on centralized exchanges such as Binance and Bybit. “Looking ahead, our long-term strategy involves integrating with more traditional financial markets,” he stated.