Chicago Trading Company

What Chicago Trading Company does

Chicago Trading Company is a Chicago-based proprietary quantitative trading firm founded in 1995 that provides liquidity across financial markets and promotes a more efficient marketplace. The firm serves enterprise trading operations, deploying computationally intensive strategies supported by substantial high-performance computing infrastructure, including high-density GPU clusters and liquid-cooled data centers engineered to handle hundreds of watts per square foot of power density for AI and quantitative workloads. Operationally, Chicago Trading Company runs as a private firm with 501-1,000 employees under an experienced leadership team (CEO Jonathan Grodnick, co-founder Eric Chern, Chairman Daniel Feuser, CTO Josh Schubkegel, COO Lauren Rauch, and Managing Director Frank Bednarz). Its business model relies on proprietary trading and market-making revenue, with no publicly disclosed pricing or contract structure consistent with the private, capital-markets nature of the firm. The company is actively engaged in forward-looking technology exploration, including participation in the Duality quantum accelerator at the University of Chicago's Polsky Center and exploratory partnerships with multiple quantum computing startups and Infleqtion.

Name

Chicago Trading Company

Website

https://chicagotrading.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Chicago Trading Company is a Chicago-based proprietary quantitative trading firm founded in 1995 that provides market liquidity and operates high-density GPU and liquid-cooled computing infrastructure to support its algorithmic trading and AI workloads.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Quantitative Trading & Market Making

NAICS

Securities and Commodity Contracts Intermediation and Brokerage (5231), 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

Program Trading, Basket Trading & Delta-One (FSACAFAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Algorithmic Trading & Execution Platforms (FSAFANAN), Trade Capture & Booking (FSACALAA)

Keywords

• Quantitative trading
• Market making
• Liquidity provision
• Proprietary trading
• Algorithmic trading

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Core offering

Chicago Trading Company is a quantitative trading firm that provides liquidity and promotes marketplace efficiency. Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Chicago, the firm operates high-density GPU clusters and liquid-cooled data centers to support AI and quantitative trading workloads, serving institutional clients across global financial markets.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Quantitative Trading Services
• Liquidity Provision

Segments1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at University of ChicagominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerChicago Trading Company participated as a corporate partner in the Corporate Collision event hosted by the Polsky Center at the University of Chicago. The event was a capstone of the Duality quantum accelerator, bringing together quantum startups and corporate partners to explore collaboration opportunities. Chicago Trading Company delivered reverse pitches outlining their innovation priorities and explored potential partnerships with quantum startups including K1 Semiconductor, QodeX Quantum, Qoro Quantum, SQK Inc., and Stac12.
• InfleqtionminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerChicago Trading Company was mentioned alongside other corporate partners (Allstate, Boeing, IBM) in the context of the Corporate Collision event exploring quantum technology collaborations. Infleqtion's CTO Pranav Gokhale was a keynote speaker, sharing his journey from founding Super.tech through its merger with ColdQuanta to create Infleqtion.

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Optiver: Amsterdam-based global market maker specializing in derivatives and equities; comparable as a quantitative liquidity provider with significant technology infrastructure.
• Wolverine Trading: Chicago-headquartered proprietary trading firm providing liquidity in options, ETFs, and equities; another long-standing Chicago prop trading peer with comparable business model.
• IMC Financial Markets: Global market maker and liquidity provider using algorithmic trading across multiple asset classes; direct competitor with similar strategy mix and infrastructure investments.
• Jane Street: Global quantitative liquidity provider and market maker across ETFs, equities, options, and bonds; comparable in mission (providing liquidity, promoting efficient markets) and heavy use of technology.
• Jump Trading: Chicago-based high-frequency and quantitative trading firm operating across multiple asset classes globally; direct competitor with similar technology focus and HFT DNA.
• Akuna Capital: Chicago-based options market maker using quantitative strategies; direct local peer in the Chicago options market-making space with similar technology-intensive approach.
• Belvedere Trading: Chicago-based proprietary trading firm specializing in equity options and ETF market making; closely comparable in city, scale tier, and liquidity-provision strategy.
• Citadel Securities: Chicago-headquartered market maker and liquidity provider across equities, options, and fixed income; the most direct competitor to CTC in scale, venue footprint, and quantitative approach.
• Hudson River Trading: Quantitative trading firm employing sophisticated algorithms and large-scale compute infrastructure to provide liquidity across global markets; closely comparable in technology profile and trading approach.
• DRW Trading: Chicago-headquartered principal trading firm providing liquidity across a broad set of asset classes and venues; long-standing peer in the same city and same liquidity-provision business model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/1552059818383401
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/chicago-trading-company

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments7 records

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

Frequently asked questions about Chicago Trading Company