Vector Trading

What Vector Trading does

Vector Trading is a Chicago-based proprietary trading firm founded in 2014 that trades its own capital across multiple strategies, asset classes, and electronic exchanges worldwide. The firm has no external customers and operates entirely on internal capital, generating revenue through proprietary trading activity executed via custom-built electronic infrastructure. Founder and CEO Mark Glasberg leads the firm alongside a managing director; the firm has no external investors and is self-funded.

The company's technology stack is built entirely in-house, comprising 615,381 lines of proprietary C++ code complemented by FPGA hardware acceleration, enabling nanosecond-level trade execution for speed-sensitive strategies. With approximately 62% of the technology stack being proprietary software and hardware, Vector Trading operates 154 dedicated computers, maintains six direct exchange connections, and runs operations from a 5,061 sq ft Chicago office. The 25-person team is organized into traders, quantitative researchers, software developers, FPGA engineers, and business operations, all working in tandem on strategy development, system maintenance, and research.

Vector Trading's business model centers on applying statistical modeling, quantitative research, and algorithmic trading to price discovery in financial markets. The firm recruits selectively through a multi-stage interview process culminating in a CEO interview, targeting top technical talent that it claims produces outsized results relative to team size. Revenue derives entirely from proprietary trading P&L across global electronic exchanges with no external products, services, or client relationships.

Name

Vector Trading

Legal name

Vector Trading

Website

https://vectortrading.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Vector Trading is a Chicago-based proprietary trading firm founded in 2014 that trades its own capital across multiple asset classes and electronic exchanges using proprietary C++ systems and FPGA-accelerated infrastructure, with no external customers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Algorithmic Trading

NAICS

Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and Related Activities (523)

SIC

Security & Commodity Brokers, Dealers, Exchanges & Services (6200), Commodity Contracts Brokers & Dealers (6221)

akta.pro primary industry

Algorithmic Trading & Execution Platforms (FSAFANAN)

akta.pro secondary industry

Single-Dealer Platforms (Multi-Asset) (FSAFAEAG)

Keywords

• Proprietary trading
• Algorithmic trading
• Electronic exchanges
• Quantitative research
• FPGA acceleration

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. Proprietary Trading: The company generates revenue through proprietary trading using its own capital across multiple strategies and asset classes on electronic exchanges worldwide. All trading is conducted electronically through proprietary bots programmed by in-house software developers, with trading logic built and tested by traders and quantitative researchers.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Vector Trading is a proprietary trading firm that trades its own capital across multiple strategies and asset classes on electronic exchanges worldwide. All trading is executed electronically via proprietary bots programmed by in-house software developers using C++ with FPGA hardware acceleration, enabling nanosecond-level execution for speed-dependent strategies. The firm combines algorithmic trading, quantitative research, and hardware engineering to develop automated trading applications and mathematical models for linear and non-linear financial valuations.

Product overview

Vector Trading is a proprietary trading firm that develops and operates its own trading infrastructure and strategies. The company is not a product/software vendor—it is a trading organization that internally builds all of its own technology, including trading bots, quantitative models, and hardware-accelerated systems (FPGA). The company trades multiple strategies across different asset classes and electronic exchanges worldwide, with all trades executed electronically via proprietary software and hardware (62% of infrastructure). No external products or services are offered to third parties.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Proprietary Algorithmic Trading

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Jump Trading: Chicago-based global proprietary trading and HFT firm. Directly comparable to Vector Trading in core activity: algorithmic, low-latency, multi-asset prop trading with proprietary technology stacks.
• Wolverine Trading: Mid-size Chicago proprietary trading firm running multiple strategies across asset classes via proprietary technology. Same city, similar scale, similar self-funded, technology-led prop trading model.
• DRW Trading: Chicago-based principal trading firm deploying capital across multiple asset classes and liquidity-providing strategies, with significant proprietary technology investment. Comparable on model, asset breadth, and proprietary infrastructure focus.
• Akuna Capital: Chicago proprietary trading firm with quantitatively driven options and futures market making using in-house C++ systems. Comparable as a similar-sized, technology-first prop trader in the same city.
• Hudson River Trading: Quantitative and HFT prop trading firm that builds and operates its own low-latency C++ and FPGA trading infrastructure across multiple asset classes. Direct comparison on technology stack, execution speed, and proprietary strategy focus.
• Jane Street: Global quantitative trading firm trading its own capital across many asset classes using proprietary technology. Comparable on proprietary capital, multi-asset, technology-first approach and self-funded growth.
• Optiver: Global proprietary trading market maker with strong in-house technology and quantitative research, active across options, equities, and other asset classes. Similar in-house C++/FPGA infrastructure and prop trading model.
• IMC Financial Markets: Global proprietary trading firm providing liquidity across multiple asset classes using sophisticated quantitative models and proprietary technology. Comparable as a global multi-asset prop trader with in-house tech infrastructure.

Broad incumbents

• Citadel Securities: Much larger institutional market maker across equities, options, and other asset classes with extensive proprietary low-latency technology. Comparable in capability set, but operates at substantially greater scale and breadth than Vector Trading.
• Two Sigma Securities: Quantitative trading firm with substantial proprietary technology and data-science driven trading across multiple asset classes. Overlaps with Vector Trading on technology-first, quant-driven prop trading, though materially larger in scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/vector-trading

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Vector Trading