Vest raises $13M to run a prop-trading firm that shares profits instead of charging fees

Vest Labs runs a retail proprietary trading firm: qualified traders use company money on perpetual futures around the clock and keep a share of profits.

Traders will choose a prop firm that trades real company capital and shares profits — up to 80% to the trader — over fee-charging simulation models.

$13M seed closed July 2026, led by Portal Ventures with individual backers including senior executives at Citadel Securities, BlackRock and KKR; valuation undisclosed

Justin Ma studied finance and philosophy at Penn, roomed with Rikuya Takatsu and Maximilian Tsiang, and in their junior year in 2021 the three studied how crypto perpetual exchanges work, believing early decentralized platforms' pricing was mathematically flawed. Ma dropped out after building and selling Berri, a consumer trading app he says reached 100,000 users and sold within months, and used the proceeds to start high-frequency crypto trading and to publish exchange research on an open-source forum.

At a Penn alumni event during the 2024 Stanford Blockchain Conference, Ma pitched Catrina Wang of Portal Ventures, starting the conversation that became the seed round. It closed in July 2026 and was announced October 7, 2026. Vest says roughly 26% of its 27,000 traders had received a cash payout as of late September, and that monthly active traders and volume surged over 300% month over month (self-reported in the announcement).

The whole retail prop sector monetizes evaluation fees and profits even when customers fail; Vest ties its revenue to trader success instead.

The 26% self-reported payout rate directly attacks the sector's core economics, where only a minority of funded traders ever get paid.

Angels from Citadel Securities, BlackRock and KKR investing individually signals institutional buy-in for the alignment model.

The market is growing fast — Track360 estimates $850M sector revenue in 2026, up 45% — so the model choice compounds at scale.

When the house profits from entry fees, moving the house onto the customer's side of the trade is the differentiator — but it only works if payouts stay honest at scale.

As of October 7, 2026, Vest had just announced the $13M seed with valuation undisclosed. Funding is earmarked for building a mobile app, expanding the 22-person team and broadening the assets tradeable around the clock. Its claimed traction — 27,000 traders, a 26% payout rate, and 300%+ month-over-month growth in active traders and volume — is self-reported and has not been verified by third parties.