A global trading exchange startup founded by two Cambridge mathematicians has raised £7m ($9.5m) in seed funding.
Y Combinator are among the investors in QFEX, which was founded by Annanay Kapila and Joshua Wharton.
The duo met as freshers at Cambridge, bonding over a shared interest in maths and finance.
After studying maths and conducted quantum computing research, Kapila went to work as a quantitative trader at Flow Traders and Tower Research Capital in London,
He is now building QFEX as the exchange he always wished he had to trade on and hopes it will eventually replace the entire $100bn exchange and clearing industry.
Most recently Wharton worked at Citidel.
Kapila: “I’m excited to announce that QFEX has raised $9.5M in seed funding led by Yuri Sagalov from General Catalyst, with participation from Abhishek Sharma from Nexus Venture Partners, Y Combinator, Paul Graham and others.
“Josh and I never planned to start a company, and the idea of building an exchange seemed totally unfeasible. After uni, we took normal paths.
“Back in January, I went on a boys’ trip with Josh and others in Cambodia. On a bus headed towards our hotel, we spawned discussions surrounding a new form of financial exchange. And on that day, QFEX was born.
“QFEX is the first financial exchange to offer perpetual futures natively built for traditional assets.
“Traders on our platform have direct access to markets with no brokers.
“This means that for the end user (you), there are lower fees, fairer markets and more leverage.
“Additionally, our exchange is commission only, which means that we only make money when you win.”
Abhishek Sharma, from Nexus Venture Partners, said: “So excited to partner with Annanay Kapila and Joshua Wharton as they build QFEX, the first financial exchange to offer perpetual futures natively built for traditional assets.”