Sernova Financial

What Sernova Financial does

Sernova Financial, founded in 2015 and headquartered in London, operates a cloud-based post-trade clearing utility for the derivatives and financing markets. The platform is built on Nasdaq Calypso technology and provides integrated connectivity to multiple central counterparties (CME, Eurex, LCH, ICE), supporting exchange-traded derivatives clearing, over-the-counter derivatives clearing, repo clearing, bilateral processing, collateral management, cross-margining, and sponsored clearing through a shared multi-tenant architecture. The company serves four primary verticals — banks, brokers, hedge funds, and proprietary trading firms — with named enterprise clients including FirstRand Securities, BBVA, Commerzbank, CMC Markets, and Raiffeisen Bank International.

Sernova monetises through managed-services subscriptions under a fixed-price onboarding, pay-as-you-grow pricing model, allowing clients to share infrastructure costs and avoid the capital expenditure of building in-house clearing stacks. Disclaimed cost savings range from 30-80% versus internal builds and ~35% for ETD clearing solutions, with typical implementation timelines of 1-6 months. GTM is exclusively direct enterprise sales organised regionally across Europe, Americas, and Asia, supported by strategic technology and reference-data alliances with Calypso/Nasdaq, TCS, FIA Tech, CME, Eurex, and ICE. The India office functions as an operations and technology support centre, while New York and Singapore serve as regional sales and operational hubs.

The company is privately held, founder-led (co-founded by former RBS Prime Services and OTC clearing executives Venkatesh Ramasamy and Richard Thompson), and holds a full enterprise security compliance stack (ISO 27001, SOC 1 Type II, SOC 2 Type II, FSQS). It has no disclosed external funding rounds and is generating revenue from a base of at least 8 enterprise clients as of early 2024, with recent momentum toward US expansion and regulatory-driven product extensions around EMIR 3.0 and Basel 3.1.

Name

Sernova Financial

Legal name

Sernova Financials Limited

Website

https://sernovafinancial.com/

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Sernova Financial is a London-based fintech that operates a shared cloud-based post-trade clearing utility for banks, brokers, hedge funds, and proprietary trading firms, providing multi-CCP connectivity (CME, Eurex, LCH, ICE) and outsourced derivatives, repo, and collateral management on the Nasdaq Calypso platform.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Post-Trade Clearing Infrastructure

NAICS

Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (522320), Securities and Commodity Exchanges (52321)

SIC

Security Brokers, Dealers & Flotation Companies (6211), Finance Services (6199)

akta.pro primary industry

Multi-Asset Electronic Trading Platforms (FSAFANAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Liquidity Infrastructure (RFQ, order-book engines, matching, liquidity-as-a-service) (FSAPADAI), Transaction Analytics & Cash-Flow Insights (risk signals, forecasting) (FSAGACAG)

Keywords

• Post-trade clearing
• OTC derivatives clearing
• ETD clearing services
• Collateral management
• Clearing utility services

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Outsourced Post-Trade Clearing Services: Sernova provides outsourced post-trade clearing infrastructure as a managed service, enabling clients to access clearing, collateral, and risk management capabilities without building in-house. Revenue is generated through service fees that typically result in 30-80% cost savings compared to internal infrastructure builds, with a 'pay as you grow' pricing model. Multiple clients share infrastructure, mutualising upfront build costs and running costs commensurate with business size in each clearing house.
2. Technology Platform Licensing: Access to cloud-based clearing platform utilizing Nasdaq Calypso technology, provided as part of the managed service offering with fixed-price onboarding and variable ongoing costs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Sernova Financial provides a cloud-based, shared-utility post-trade clearing platform built on Nasdaq Calypso technology, delivering outsourced clearing, collateral management, and risk management services to banks, brokers, hedge funds, and proprietary trading firms. The platform provides multi-CCP connectivity (CME, Eurex, LCH, ICE) for OTC derivatives, exchange-traded derivatives (ETD), repo, and bilateral processing, enabling clients to become direct clearing members without building their own infrastructure. Revenue is generated through managed-service / subscription fees under a 'pay-as-you-grow' model, with claims of 30–80% cost savings versus internal builds.

Product overview

Sernova Financial offers a unified cloud-based shared utility model for post-trade clearing, collateral management, and risk management operations. The core platform comprises three integrated clearing solutions: OTC Derivatives Clearing, ETD (Exchange-Traded Derivatives) Clearing, and Bilateral Processing for uncleared trades. These are supported by shared modules including Collateral Management, Cross-Margining, Repo Clearing, LCH SwapAgent, and a Client Web Portal. The platform operates 24/7, providing connectivity to multiple CCPs (CME Group, Eurex, LCH, ICE), enabling banks, brokers, hedge funds, and proprietary trading firms to take direct control of their clearing infrastructure with typical cost savings of 30-80% compared to internal builds.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Cost savings of 30-80% compared to internally built clearing infrastructure
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration8 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• FIA TechflagshipTechnology or Integration · 13 January 2025Sernova joined FIA Tech's Databank Network, the first outsourcing provider to do so. Sernova integrates FIA Tech's exchange fees, cross reference symbology, and core contract specifications data including position limits. Partnership vital for Sernova's expansion into exchange traded space. The Databank Network unifies reference data from over 80 exchanges and CCPs.
• Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 22 June 2016Strategic partnership to deliver next-generation cloud-based derivative post trade processing service. TCS provides Business Process as a Service (BPaaS) models and IT-Operations synergies alongside Sernova's capital markets expertise and Calypso platform capabilities. The partnership enables banks to maintain compliance with changing global regulatory environment while reducing risk.
• Calypso Technology Inc. (Nasdaq)coreTechnology or Integration · 25 May 2016Strategic partnership to deliver next-generation, cloud-based clearing services. Calypso provides the technology platform while Sernova provides the operational infrastructure and clearing expertise. The partnership enables regional banks and buy-side firms to access capital markets through Sernova's service built on Calypso technology.
• Nasdaq (Calypso)coreTechnology or IntegrationSernova Financial utilises the power of Nasdaq Calypso, a leading cloud-based platform for exchange-traded derivatives (ETD) and over-the-counter (OTC) clearing. Nasdaq's extensive suite of services empowers financial institutions worldwide with solutions for market infrastructure, surveillance, compliance, regulatory reporting, and risk management. Nasdaq Ventures is a global venture investing program focused on cultivating talent and technology advancement within financial services.
• CME GroupcoreTechnology or IntegrationSernova is a recognised partner offering connectivity to CME Group. CME is the leading US derivatives exchange and a leading global central counterparty.
• Eurex ClearingcoreTechnology or IntegrationSernova is a recognised partner offering connectivity to Eurex Clearing. Eurex is the leading European derivatives exchange and, with Eurex Clearing, a leading global central counterparty.
• ICE (Intercontinental Exchange)coreTechnology or IntegrationSernova is a recognised partner offering connectivity to ICE IRM 2 (ICE Risk Model 2 margins). ICE provides solutions enabling participants to obtain and calculate IRM 2 margins in categories including Margin Reports for Clearing Members, Margin Tools, and information to enable Margin Replication.
• Futures Industry Association (FIA)coreTechnology or IntegrationSernova is an associate member of the Futures Industry Association (FIA), the leading global trade organisation for futures, options and centrally cleared derivatives markets.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• FIS: FIS (Fidelity National Information Services) provides broad post-trade and capital markets technology infrastructure to financial institutions globally, competing with Sernova in multi-asset post-trade processing, clearing, and reporting.
• DTCC: DTCC operates core post-trade infrastructure for the securities industry including clearing and settlement services, serving similar institutional clients as Sernova and competing for post-trade processing wallet share.
• Broadridge: Broadridge provides post-trade processing, securities processing, and capital markets infrastructure including Itiviti (acquired 2021), offering comparable trade processing and connectivity services to Sernova's target bank, broker, and buy-side clients.
• IHS Markit (S&P Global): Following S&P Global's acquisition of IHS Markit, the combined firm offers broad capital markets infrastructure, derivatives processing, and reference data services that overlap with Sernova's clearing and reference data capabilities.
• Euroclear: Euroclear provides post-trade settlement and clearing services for securities transactions globally, serving similar financial institution clients as Sernova in the post-trade infrastructure space.
• Murex: Murex provides a comprehensive capital markets platform with strong front-to-back derivatives processing and post-trade/clearing capabilities, serving similar bank and buy-side clients as Sernova across multiple asset classes.

Direct peers

• TriOptima (CME Group): TriOptima, part of CME Group, provides post-trade services for OTC derivatives including portfolio reconciliation and compression. It overlaps with Sernova's OTC derivatives post-trade workflow for major financial institutions.
• Acadia (LSEG): Acadia provides outsourced OTC derivatives clearing infrastructure with multi-CCP connectivity and was acquired by LSEG in 2023. It is the closest direct competitor to Sernova, offering a similar utility-style clearing service to banks and buy-side firms.

Others

• Nasdaq (Calypso): Nasdaq owns Calypso, Sernova's core technology platform and disclosed strategic investor. While currently a partner, Nasdaq could potentially compete directly with Sernova by expanding Calypso into outsourced clearing utility services for its own benefit.
• IPC Systems: IPC Systems provides trading communications and infrastructure for capital markets, an adjacent offering to Sernova's clearing infrastructure and serving overlapping financial institution customers in the trade lifecycle.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/sernovafin
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sernova-financial

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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 Sernova Financial