PropellerHeads

What PropellerHeads does

PropellerHeads is a Berlin-headquartered, fully remote DeFi infrastructure company founded in 2022 that builds open-source trading infrastructure on Ethereum to eliminate intermediary extraction across the trade lifecycle. The company operates three core products: Tycho, an open-source Rust liquidity indexer, simulation library, and execution layer that routes 30% of CowSwap trades and handles $2B/month in volume across Ethereum, Base, Unichain, Arbitrum, Starknet, zkSync, Polygon, and BSC; Fynd, an open-source Rust-native DEX router that runs locally with 10ms quote times, 1M pool simulations per second, and coverage of 27 protocols and 6.5M+ pools; and Turbine, a peer-to-peer batch settlement exchange for large trades that settles at near-zero spread using the APEX batch algorithm, custom Uniswap v4 hooks, and TEE-protected orders hosted on Phala's Intel TDX infrastructure (audited by Trail of Bits). Additional products include PropellerSwap, a direct-to-solver swap interface, and StabilityKeepers, an MEV-protection layer first deployed on zkSync testnet.

The company serves four primary customer segments: large traders seeking near-zero-spread execution, frequent traders optimizing across many trades, passive liquidity providers avoiding impermanent loss, and a developer/solver persona building DeFi applications, DEX integrations, market-making systems, and trading terminals. Revenue is generated via Turbine's per-order gas fee plus BPS volume fee, optional Tycho enterprise API subscriptions (free base tier via Telegram bot), and Fynd's operator-customizable fee rules on swaps. Distribution is product-led and self-serve: open-source GitHub repositories, comprehensive documentation, Telegram developer communities, self-serve web applications, and OEM/embedded integration paths for dApps.

PropellerHeads has assembled a strategic investor syndicate including General Catalyst, Faculty Group, Delphi Digital, a_capital, GSR, Kraken, Tokka Labs, Circle, Karatage, Polygon, Alchemy, WAGMI Ventures, StreamingFast, Anoma, and Uniswap Labs. The company is led by CEO Markus and CTO Alan alongside approximately 16 engineers and is headquartered in Berlin with team members distributed across Europe.

Name

PropellerHeads

Legal name

PropellerHeads

Website

https://propellerheads.xyz

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

PropellerHeads is a Berlin-based DeFi infrastructure company building open-source Ethereum trading products — Tycho (liquidity indexer), Fynd (DEX router), and Turbine (P2P batch settlement) — serving developers, solvers, large traders, and liquidity providers with trustless, middleman-free execution.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

DeFi Trading Infrastructure

NAICS

Securities and Commodity Exchanges (523210)

SIC

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

akta.pro primary industry

DEX Aggregators & Smart Order Routing (FSADABAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

DEX Aggregation & On-Chain Execution (routing, RFQ, intent-based trading) (FSAPAEAD), Deployment, Automation & DevOps (build pipelines, contract deployment tools) (FSAPABAH), On-Chain Limit Orders & Algorithmic Execution (FSADABAJ)

Keywords

• DEX aggregator
• DeFi infrastructure
• Liquidity indexing
• Batch settlement
• MEV protection

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Turbine Trading Fees: Turbine charges a per-order gas fee plus a BPS (basis points) volume fee depending on the token pair. Patient traders matched with impatient traders can earn spread income. Worst case users pay standard aggregator spread; best case they earn from fast traders.
2. Custom Fee Rules: Fynd allows operators to set their own fee rules on swaps - charge fees, give discounts, or set custom fees on every swap for monetization.
3. API Access: Tycho provides hosted endpoints requiring API keys. Base key obtained via Telegram bot @fynd_portal_bot; full indexer access requires direct DM request. This enables B2B relationships with solvers and protocols.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

PropellerHeads builds open-source DeFi trading infrastructure on Ethereum, comprising Tycho (a real-time liquidity indexer, simulation library, and execution layer used by solvers and protocols), Fynd (an open-source Rust DEX router that runs locally and quotes swaps in ~10ms across 27 protocols and 6.5M+ pools), and Turbine (a peer-to-peer batch settlement market that lets large trades clear at near-zero spread with TEE-protected orders). The stack is designed to eliminate middlemen in on-chain trading and is delivered as self-serve web apps, open-source code, and APIs.

Product overview

PropellerHeads is a DeFi trading infrastructure company offering a suite of interconnected products built around Ethereum. The core portfolio includes Tycho (an open-source Rust library providing Indexer, Simulation, and Execution for DeFi liquidity), Turbine (a peer-to-peer large-trade market settling at near-zero spread via batch settlement), and Fynd (an open-source local DEX router with 10ms quote times). These products share common infrastructure: Tycho's indexing and simulation capabilities power both Turbine (for AMM liquidity in batches) and Fynd (for DEX routing), while Fynd provides trustless DEX quotes that set Turbine order spreads. The ecosystem also includes PropellerSwap for direct-to-solver trading and StabilityKeepers for MEV protection on zkSync.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Turbine: Exchange for settling large trades at zero spread. Uses peer-to-peer batch matching with on-chain liquidity, Uniswap v4 hooks, TEE-based order privacy, and market-tracking spread orders.
• Fynd
• Tycho
• Open Swap

Products and services

• Tycho An open-source Rust library and infrastructure layer for DeFi trading composed of Indexer (real-time protocol state streaming), Simulation (DEX swap calculations), and Execution (trade encoding and on-chain settlement) components, enabling solvers and developers to access all on-chain liquidity through a unified interface.
• Fynd An open-source, Rust-native DEX router that runs on the user's server, capable of 1 million pool simulations per second and routing across 27 protocols, 6.5M+ pools, and 5.8M+ tokens on Ethereum, Base, and Unichain. Targeted at Ethereum developers building DEX UIs, trading terminals, AI agents, and price oracles.
• Turbine A peer-to-peer trading market designed for large trades that settles at zero or near-zero spread through batch settlement with on-chain liquidity. Turbine matches patient traders willing to wait with urgent traders and uses market-tracking spread orders, a bot-blocking speedbump, and APEX batch solver. Targeted at large traders, frequent traders, and passive LPs.
• PropellerSwap A direct-to-solver swap interface optimized for large signal trades that routes orders optimally through on-chain liquidity while keeping transactions private and executing directly without delay.
• StabilityKeepers MEV protection infrastructure that recaptures value otherwise lost to bots and miners, returning it to protocols and users; first deployed on zkSync testnet.

Quantifiable outcome

• Users pay 7-8 bps average spread onchain; large trades can face 50-500+ bps spread. Turbine can achieve near-zero or negative spread through peer-to-peer matching.
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration21 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Uniswap FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 June 2024Co-organizer of Crypto Academic Camp with Edge City. Prior camps produced V4 hook integrations for Propellerheads and grants for Butter project.
• Trail of BitscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLeading blockchain security audit firm that audited Turbine code. Critical for trust and credibility of the protocol.
• Phala NetworkcoreTechnology or IntegrationProvides TEE (Trusted Execution Environment) infrastructure using Intel TDX that makes Turbine orders invisible and verifiable. Hosts the TEE that stores orders privately.
• FlashbotscoreTechnology or IntegrationTrustless builder network (BuilderNet) through which Turbine batches settle. Critical for MEV protection and fair ordering.
• CowSwapcoreTechnology or Integration30% of CowSwap trades are routed through Tycho infrastructure. Tycho processes $2B/month in volume for CowSwap. Major production use case.
• Eric BudishminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity of Chicago professor whose academic research on market microstructure had the biggest influence on Turbine's design. Conceptual foundation for batch auctions.
• SPEEDEX (Geoffrey Ramseyer)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch paper on batch settlement algorithms that was essential reference for Turbine's APEX batch settlement algorithm.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• CowSwap (CoW Protocol): Intent-based DEX aggregator using batch auctions; both PropellerHeads (via Tycho) and CoW Protocol operate in the DEX aggregation and solver-coordination space, with Tycho routing 30% of CowSwap trades.
• 1inch: Largest DEX aggregator by volume, offering routing, RFQ, and intent-based Fusion+ execution. Directly comparable to Fynd and Tycho on multi-protocol routing and execution infrastructure.
• 0x / Matcha: DEX aggregation API and consumer trading interface (Matcha) serving similar developer and trader segments as Fynd/Tycho, with comparable order-routing and solver infrastructure.
• ParaSwap: DEX aggregator offering routing across Ethereum and major L2s; competes head-to-head with Fynd in the multi-protocol aggregation layer for traders and integrators.
• Hashflow: Intent-based, peer-to-peer quote-matching DEX with MEV protection — directly comparable to Turbine's batch settlement and TEE-protected zero-spread model for large trades.
• Kyber Network (KyberSwap): Multi-chain DEX aggregator and trading interface offering routing, RFQ, and limit orders; overlaps directly with Fynd on multi-protocol routing and Tycho on liquidity indexing.

Broad incumbents

• Uniswap Labs: Largest on-chain DEX and a strategic investor in PropellerHeads. Turbine is built as a Uniswap v4 hook, making Uniswap both an infrastructure dependency and an adjacent incumbent with overlapping execution ambitions.

Emerging players

• Bebop: Intent-based DEX aggregator from Wintermute focused on best-execution routing and RFQ; competes with Turbine in the zero-spread, large-trade settlement niche and with Fynd in routing.
• Odos: DEX aggregator specializing in multi-hop and split-route optimization on EVM chains; comparable to Fynd on routing performance and path-finding complexity.
• Symbiosis: Cross-chain DEX aggregator and bridge; partially comparable to Fynd's multi-chain routing ambition across Ethereum, Base, and Unichain.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/PropellerSwap
• GitHubgithub.com/propeller-heads
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/propellerheads

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors3 records

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

M&A

Investments3 records

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

Frequently asked questions about PropellerHeads