CB Capital: Why We Invested in ML Tech

At CB Capital, we strive to help the entrepreneurs affiliated with the Chicago Booth community at all stages of their journey. We strongly believe that the core mandate of venture capital is to invest in the trends that will outlive any financial up-or-down cycle. We are bullish on the companies that are determined to bring about global-scale impact and fundamental changes to the lives of the people and the market it serves. With that said, we are very excited to announce today our recent investment into ML Tech.

ML Tech is a non-custodial investment platform connecting institutional investors to automated crypto trading strategies. Institutional investments in digital  assets is still in its infancy. While there are plenty of established trading strategies for equity and debt markets, it’s still the wild west in the crypto world. In the last few years, there have been a number of researchers and trading teams who have tried their hand at crypto trading with varying degrees of success but without the backing of institutional capital. On the other hand, institutional investors have had challenges with strategy selection and risk monitoring. ML Tech is a platform which sits between researchers/trading teams and investors to connect crypto investors to top trading strategies. 

First and foremost, we are excited about the founding team. We have been tracking Leo since his time at Chicago Booth, where he was a finalist in Booth’s iconic New Venture Challenge. Soon after, ML Tech raised $1.75M in seed capital from top investors, such as West Loop Ventures, OCA Ventures, Tellus Tech Ventures, as well as leading executives in the high frequency trading industry. We had a pleasure to meet Markus, Hitesh, and Marie - and have been extremely impressed by their depth and maturity in this space. 

The crypto trading market is rife with noise and a platform like ML Tech is in prime position to break through the noise and capitalize on the growth momentum - further accelerating the innovation in the entire space. In 2022, they have seen a 120x YoY growth in trade volume to $15B, 40x YoY growth in trade count to 2.5M and seen a total capacity of $100M+ across live strategies. With the total AUM of crypto hedge funds growing from $1B to $4B from 2019 to 2021, we believe the overall market will grow at least 10x in the next decade. 

We hope to support the ML Tech team with customer, investor, and employee introductions, as well as any operational support in the years ahead with the Booth network. Please join us in congratulating them on their journey so far and wishing them all the success in the years to come. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us if you are interested in learning more about ML Tech and CB Capital. 

If we do not speak with you before the holiday season - Merry Christmas and a happy new year!

#venturecapital #trading #chicagobooth

Original Source : https://www.linkedin.com/posts/cbcapital-chicagobooth_mltech-miamistartups-bitcoin-activity-7014170511807037440-gRBw/

 


ML TECH CAPITAL, LLC IS A MEMBER OF NFA AND IS SUBJECT TO NFA'S REGULATORY OVERSIGHT AND EXAMINATIONS. ML TECH CAPITAL, LLC HAS ENGAGED OR MAY ENGAGE IN UNDERLYING OR SPOT VIRTUAL CURRENCY TRANSACTIONS IN MANAGED ACCOUNT PROGRAMS. ALTHOUGH NFA HAS JURISDICTION OVER ML TECH CAPITAL, LLC AND ITS MANAGED ACCOUNT PROGRAMS, YOU SHOULD BE AWARE THAT NFA DOES NOT HAVE REGULATORY OVERSIGHT AUTHORITY FOR UNDERLYING OR SPOT MARKET VIRTUAL CURRENCY PRODUCTS OR TRANSACTIONS OR VIRTUAL CURRENCY EXCHANGES, CUSTODIANS OR MARKETS. YOU SHOULD ALSO BE AWARE THAT GIVEN CERTAIN MATERIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THESE PRODUCTS, INCLUDING LACK OF A CENTRALIZED PRICING SOURCE AND THE OPAQUE NATURE OF THE VIRTUAL CURRENCY MARKET, THERE CURRENTLY IS NO SOUND OR ACCEPTABLE PRACTICE FOR NFA TO ADEQUATELY VERIFY THE OWNERSHIP AND CONTROL OF A VIRTUAL CURRENCY OR THE VALUATION ATTRIBUTED TO A VIRTUAL CURRENCY BY ML TECH CAPITAL, LLC.

ML TECH CAPITAL, LLC IS A MEMBER OF NFA AND IS SUBJECT TO NFA'S REGULATORY OVERSIGHT AND EXAMINATIONS. HOWEVER, YOU SHOULD BE AWARE THAT NFA DOES NOT HAVE REGULATORY OVERSIGHT AUTHORITY OVER UNDERLYING OR SPOT VIRTUAL CURRENCY PRODUCTS OR TRANSACTIONS OR VIRTUAL CURRENCY EXCHANGES, CUSTODIANS OR MARKETS.