HedgeCo.Net — Databento, a market data platform used by quantitative trading firms, brokerages and asset managers, has raised a $100 million Series C at a $1.1 billion valuation. The round was led by Fifth Down Capital, an early investor, with participation from nearly all existing investors, including NEA, DRW Venture Capital, Tribe Capital and Hedosophia, the company said on November 12.
Fitch Ventures joined as a strategic investor. “Financial data is becoming increasingly API-driven and machine-consumed,” said Gabby Munoz, global head of M&A and venture investments at Fitch Group, adding that Databento has built “differentiated infrastructure at the source.”
The raise follows a $97 million Series B earlier this year. Since that round, Databento says it has more than doubled revenue while remaining profitable. The company had 39 employees when it closed the Series C, a fraction of the headcount of traditional market data vendors, and it has signed enterprise contracts with five of the six leading frontier AI labs.
Databento provides real-time and historical data across futures, options, equities and indices through a single API and owns the stack from source capture to delivery. The new capital will fund further infrastructure investment and expansion into additional asset classes.
For hedge funds and trading firms, the round highlights growing competition in a market long dominated by a few large incumbents. Market data is one of the largest non-compensation costs for systematic managers, and API-first providers with usage-based pricing are pressuring legacy terminal and feed economics. AI labs’ appetite for clean historical financial data adds a second demand driver that could support further consolidation and investment in the category.
Fitch Ventures joined as a strategic investor. “Financial data is becoming increasingly API-driven and machine-consumed,” said Gabby Munoz, global head of M&A and venture investments at Fitch Group, adding that Databento has built “differentiated infrastructure at the source.”
The raise follows a $97 million Series B earlier this year. Since that round, Databento says it has more than doubled revenue while remaining profitable. The company had 39 employees when it closed the Series C, a fraction of the headcount of traditional market data vendors, and it has signed enterprise contracts with five of the six leading frontier AI labs.
Databento provides real-time and historical data across futures, options, equities and indices through a single API and owns the stack from source capture to delivery. The new capital will fund further infrastructure investment and expansion into additional asset classes.
For hedge funds and trading firms, the round highlights growing competition in a market long dominated by a few large incumbents. Market data is one of the largest non-compensation costs for systematic managers, and API-first providers with usage-based pricing are pressuring legacy terminal and feed economics. AI labs’ appetite for clean historical financial data adds a second demand driver that could support further consolidation and investment in the category.
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