What SMB Capital does

SMB Capital (legal entity SMBU LLC) is a proprietary trading firm headquartered at 640 Fifth Avenue, 16th Floor, in Midtown Manhattan, New York. Founded in 2005 by Mike Bellafiore and Steve Spencer — both Wharton-educated traders with 30+ years of combined market experience — the firm operates a single-desk model trading US equities, options, and futures using its own capital. SMB recruits two cohorts of traders: new traders seeking training and experienced traders with a track record, providing them with capital, proprietary technology, structured training, coaching, and daily mentoring. SMB is founder-owned, privately held, and shows no evidence of external institutional investment or public listing.

The firm's core technology stack is Gr8trade® and Gr8py®, two proprietary execution platforms not sold or licensed externally. They support both discretionary and automated trading workflows, with integrated scripting for alerts and analysis, Jupyter/Bokeh-based research and backtesting, and purpose-built post-trade analytics — all running on architecture designed for low-latency execution and redundancy during market stress. SMB's trader-development ecosystem comprises SMB DNA of Successful Trading (14 on-demand modules), The Winning Trader (20 professional strategies), Team Trading under Senior Traders, and a daily schedule of mentoring sessions including the SMB AM Meeting with Spencer, Reading the Tape, and 'These Guys Are Good' post-close reviews.

Commercially, SMB operates as a principal, not as a vendor: it does not sell its technology, charge tuition for training publicly disclosed as pricing, or serve external customers in a traditional sense. Its economic engine is the firm's share of trading P&L generated by desk traders, with traders progressing through tiers (Green Shirt at $1M net profit, Black Shirt at $2M net profit). Distribution and recruiting are driven by content marketing — the SMB Training Blog, Steve Spencer's YouTube channel (200,000+ views), Twitter, and Facebook — feeding a selective application funnel through the firm's careers page.

Name

SMB Capital

Legal name

SMBU LLC

Website

https://smbcap.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

SMB Capital is a privately-held, founder-owned proprietary trading desk in Midtown Manhattan that recruits and trains new and experienced traders to trade US equities, options, and futures with firm capital, proprietary Gr8trade/Gr8py execution technology, and structured mentoring programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Proprietary Trading

NAICS

Other Financial Investment Activities (5239), Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)

SIC

Security Brokers, Dealers & Flotation Companies (6211), Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

SME Lending & Working Capital Platforms (FSAGAJAA)

Keywords

• Proprietary trading
• Day trading desk
• Trader training program
• Execution platform
• Equities options futures

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Proprietary Trading: SMB Capital operates as a proprietary trading desk where traders trade the firm's capital. The firm earns profits from successful trading across equities, options, and futures. Traders who generate profits share in the earnings, with top performers able to become seven-figure traders.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

SMB Capital is a proprietary trading desk in Midtown Manhattan that trades equities, options, and futures using the firm's own capital. The firm recruits and develops individual traders, providing them with capital, proprietary execution technology (Gr8trade® and Gr8py®), structured training, coaching, and mentoring so they can become consistently profitable and potentially seven-figure traders. SMB Edge is the umbrella program that takes traders from beginner to elite performance.

Product overview

SMB Capital is a proprietary trading firm offering a unified platform combining proprietary execution technology with comprehensive trader development programs. The core technology stack consists of Gr8trade® and Gr8py®, proprietary execution platforms supporting both discretionary and automated trading. The trader development ecosystem includes structured training programs (SMB DNA of Successful Trading with 14 modules, The Winning Trader with 20 strategies), Team Trading for collaborative development, and multiple daily mentoring sessions (SMB AM Meeting with Spencer, AM Meeting with Floor Manager, Trader Development, Reading the Tape, These Guys Are Good, and The PlayBook sessions). The company trades equities, options, and futures, providing traders with capital, technology, and training to grow from beginners to consistently profitable to seven-figure traders.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Proprietary Trading Desk Proprietary trading seat on the firm's Midtown Manhattan desk trading equities, options, and futures. Selected traders are funded with firm capital and given access to proprietary execution technology, cost structure, and internal resources to grow as discretionary, automated, or hybrid traders. Top performers can progress to seven-figure trader status.
• SMB Edge Training and Trader Development Program Structured trader development program that develops traders from beginner to consistently profitable to seven-figure traders. Includes SMB DNA of Successful Trading (14 on-demand modules on stock selection, risk management, price action, trading psychology, and trade review), The Winning Trader (20 professional trading strategies), Team Trading led by Senior Traders, and daily mentoring sessions (SMB AM Meeting with Spencer, AM Meeting with Floor Manager, Trader Development, Reading the Tape, These Guys Are Good, and The PlayBook).

Quantifiable outcome

• Top traders can become seven-figure traders, trading multiple products and time frames
• +2 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Topstep: Funded trader evaluation and capital provision platform for futures traders. Closely comparable to SMB in business model — recruiting aspiring traders, providing training/capital, and sharing in trading profits — but delivered remotely rather than from an in-person desk.
• FTMO: Global funded-trader program that evaluates traders and provides them with funded accounts in exchange for profit splits. Mirrors SMB's core economic model of capital provision plus trader development, but at remote/online scale across multiple asset classes.
• The5ers: Funded trading program providing capital to traders after an evaluation phase, with a profit-split structure. Comparable to SMB's recruit-train-fund playbook, executed through a remote, online model.
• Wolverine Trading: Proprietary trading firm focused on options, equities, and futures with in-house execution technology. Comparable to SMB in business model, asset class focus (especially options), and trader-development culture.
• Earn2Trade: Funded trader program combining trader education with evaluation-to-funded pathways. Directly comparable to SMB's combined training-plus-capital offering, delivered via online cohorts.
• Apex Trader Funding: Funded futures trading program with evaluation and funded accounts for retail traders. Closely mirrors SMB's capital-provision model for developing traders but at much larger remote scale.
• Akuna Capital: Proprietary trading firm with a strong options market-making and trading focus. Directly comparable in recruiting and developing traders, providing capital and technology, and trading equities/options for own account — though at significantly larger scale than SMB.

Emerging players

• Warrior Trading: Day-trading education and small chat-room community targeting aspiring active traders. Comparable to SMB's education and content-led top-of-funnel motion, but does not provide firm capital or operate a trading desk.
• Investors Underground: Day-trading education, stock-scanning tools, and chat-room community. Comparable to SMB's content and training side, addressing the same aspiring active-trader audience but without a prop trading desk or capital provision.

Broad incumbents

• Jane Street: Large global proprietary trading firm active in equities, options, and ETFs. Comparable to SMB in core business of proprietary trading for own account, but at materially greater scale, broader product set, and without SMB's training/education emphasis.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/smbcapital
• YouTubeyoutube.com/results?search_query=SMB+Training

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 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 SMB Capital