Capitolis, a 'next generation' provider of capital markets technology founded by Gil Mandelzis, ex-Traiana, and Icap, Tom Glocer, ex-CEO of Thomson Reuters, and Igor Teleshevksy, formerly Traiana, has raised $29 million in financing from Index Ventures and Sequoia Capital.
The funding stems from a $20 Series A investment led by Index Ventures and a prior seed round of $9 million from Sequoia Capital.
The startup is designing multiple new products and services to address capital markets constraints on under-utilised capital, initially in equities and foreign exchange, and has been hoovering up top talent from across the industry since its launch in September last year.
Gil Mandelzis, CEO of Capitolis said: “We believe there is a significant and untapped opportunity to better distribute capital through the system which can be unlocked by the appropriate products, skills, experience and focus that Capitolis brings. We have seen a very positive response from our partner banks, institutional investors and clients who understand the benefits of the approach that we are leading. And we have assembled an extraordinarily capable team with a range of skills and talents to help achieve this."
Among those joining Mandelzis are several executives with decades of experience in financial services including Justin Klug, formerly of Credit Suisse and Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Joseph Tarditi, former managing director and head of US Short Rate Sales at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and David Lamb, formerly of Morgan Stanley and Citi. The management team also includes financial technology veterans Illit Geller, formerly co-founder and CEO of TradAir and head of business development at Traiana and Ben Tobin, formerly Emea sales director at EBS BrokerTec and previously also at Traiana.
"Capitolis has a bold vision, rethinking the way markets operate," says Jan Hammer, partner at Index Ventures, a venture capital firm that has backed leading fintech firms including Adyen, Funding Circle, Robinhood and TransferWise. "Capitolis has the potential to have a lasting positive impact on the capital markets, increasing the availability of financing while reducing the associated cost."