Citadel Veterans Secure $10 Million Pre-Seed for New CFD Venture, Epic Markets
- An Extraordinary Early Investment: Raising $10 million at the pre-seed stage is exceptionally rare, marking a massive vote of confidence for both the trading sector and the wider startup landscape.
- Dubai-Based, Pending Licensing: Social media profiles place the startup in the UAE, though no official regulatory approvals have been registered so far.
Key Details
Former Citadel Securities executives Bryan Seegers (previously Director of FX Business Development) and Kevin Kimmel (former Global Head of eFX) have launched a new venture named Epic Markets. Both left Citadel in mid-2025 and have already closed a $10 million pre-seed round backed entirely by London-based venture firm Karatage.
"We thank Marius Barnett, Shane O'Callaghan and the Karatage team for their partnership and support as we build a multi-asset brokerage platform grounded in institutional-grade execution standards and engineered to bring elite execution performance to retail traders," the co-founders shared via LinkedIn.
Industry Impact & Background
While Epic Markets is currently operating in stealth mode, fine print on its website suggests it will initially focus on offering Contracts for Difference (CFDs).
A pre-seed round of this magnitude is almost unheard of.
Karatage’s willingness to single-handedly fund the $10 million check highlights the weight of Seegers' and Kimmel's institutional track records. Furthermore, Karatage’s recent onboarding of IMC Trading veteran Shane O'Callaghan as a senior partner underscores that the venture firm possesses deep market expertise and knows precisely what it is investing in.