Pillar

What Pillar does

Pillar (legal entity Stratos Labs Inc., dba Pillar Hedging) provides a SaaS platform that automates commodity and currency risk management for real-asset businesses historically underserved by institutional hedging tools. Founded in 2023 by Harsha Ramesh (CEO) and Chinmay Deshpande (CTO), former employees of Barclays and Coinbase, the company is headquartered in New York with an active engineering presence and is expanding into Singapore. The platform is built around a transaction-linked hedging architecture: every hedge is tied to a specific underlying deal or shipment, supports hedging in 1 metric ton increments, simultaneously hedges commodity price and FX exposures, and auto-adjusts positions in real time as contracts or market conditions change. The product surface consists of a web application (platform.pillarhq.com), a natural-language AI assistant accessible via web and WhatsApp, and a content/resources module for demand generation. The assistant is powered by third-party foundation models (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Cloud AI) and is layered with proprietary machine learning for dynamic hedge ratio optimization and material-grade specific strategies. Stratos Labs, Inc. operates as a registered Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA) and NFA member in the United States, which is a regulatory prerequisite for the managed hedging component of the offering.

Pillar makes money through a combination of subscription SaaS, professional services and advisory, and managed hedging services, with a 30-day free trial funnel and non-auto-renewing multi-year contracts. Its go-to-market is sales-assisted and field-led, supported by a content marketing motion (long-form commodity commentary), trade-association credibility signals, customer case studies (most prominently Shibuya-Sakura Industries), and a dedicated Book-a-Demo conversion flow that captures country and hedging-vertical interest. The company is primarily serving mid-market metals traders and recyclers (ferrous and nonferrous scrap, HMS, copper, aluminum, EV battery materials) and is actively expanding into food commodity buyers, airlines (jet fuel and FX), and energy-intensive manufacturers with cross-currency exposure. The customer base spans Singapore, Australia, Canada, and the United States, and the company has processed $1B+ in risk to date. In April 2026, Pillar closed a $20 million seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz (with Crucible Capital, Gallery Ventures, and Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi) bringing total capital raised to $23 million, and appointed commodities consultant Samuel Basi as a strategic advisor.

Name

Pillar

Legal name

Stratos Labs Inc.

Website

https://pillarhq.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Pillar (Stratos Labs Inc.) is a New York-based fintech that provides an AI-powered SaaS platform for transaction-linked, real-time commodity and currency hedging automation, serving mid-market metals traders, recyclers, and other real-asset SMEs historically underserved by institutional risk management tools.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Commodity Risk Management Software

NAICS

Commodity Contracts Intermediation (523160)

SIC

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

akta.pro primary industry

Derivatives Collateral & XVA (CSA, CVA/FVA/KVA) (FSACADAK)

Keywords

• Commodity risk management
• Currency hedging software
• Automated trading platform
• FX risk management
• Commodity trading advisor

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Subscription (Hedging Platform): Subscription-based SaaS with explicit subscription terms in legal agreement; subscriptions do not auto-renew, Pillar contacts customer prior to expiry to confirm renewal and price; 30-day free trial for new users with suspension until upgrade to paid tier; non-refundable purchases
2. Professional Services / Advisory: Customized hedging solutions and advisory support for clients including tailored hedging strategies and risk management consulting beyond the standard platform subscription
3. Managed Services / Managed Hedging: Continuously managed exposure and dynamic hedge ratio adjustments via machine learning algorithms analyzing market conditions and trading patterns; Pillar operates as a registered Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA) and member of NFA, suggesting potential managed account / discretionary execution revenue component

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Pillar provides a SaaS platform that automates commodity and currency hedging for industrial and trading firms. The platform executes transaction-linked hedges in 1 metric ton increments, automatically adjusts positions in real time as deal quantities or dates change, and hedges commodity price and FX exposures simultaneously. It is operated as a registered Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA) and NFA member, with a natural language interface available via web app and WhatsApp, and direct integration with major futures exchanges for automated trade execution.

Product overview

Pillar offers a single unified product architecture built around the Pillar Hedging Platform, on which the Pillar AI Assistant operates as the embedded natural-language interface. The Hedging Platform is the core offering — a transaction-linked, real-time system that automates commodity and FX hedging for industrial and trading firms. The Pillar AI Assistant sits inside that platform, enabling users to trigger workflows in natural language via the web app or WhatsApp, and powers the underlying automated hedge construction, dynamic adjustment, and one-click trade execution modules (Submit a transaction, Build hedges in real time, Execute trades, Track and adjust). A complementary Pillar Resources / Insights Library surfaces case studies and market commentary to support the platform. Together, these constitute Pillar's offering: one core automated hedging platform augmented by an AI assistant and a content/resources module.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Pillar Hedging Platform Unified, transaction-linked risk management SaaS platform that automates commodity and currency hedging for industrial and trading firms. Provides transaction-level protection in 1 MT increments with no rounding, automatic adjustment of hedge positions as quantities or delivery dates change, simultaneous price and currency hedging, real-time cashflow tracking, and direct integration with major futures exchanges for automated trade execution. Operates as a registered Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA) and NFA member, and is consumed via web application and WhatsApp natural language interface. Target customers are metals traders, recyclers, food industry commodity buyers, airlines, and SMEs in real-asset industries.

Quantifiable outcome

• 30% improvement in hedging effectiveness
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

AI capability10 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Samuel BasicoreOthersAppointed as strategic advisor to Pillar in conjunction with the $20M seed round. Basi is a commodities consultant whose advisory role supports Pillar's positioning in commodity risk management.
• OpenAIcoreTechnology or IntegrationNamed as a third-party AI Service Provider in Pillar's Privacy Policy. OpenAI's models are used to power Pillar's AI Products (AI applications, bots, research, document generation, and search features) within the hedging platform.
• AnthropiccoreTechnology or IntegrationNamed as a third-party AI Service Provider in Pillar's Privacy Policy. Anthropic's models process user inputs and outputs to power Pillar's AI-driven hedging automation features.
• Google Cloud AIcoreTechnology or IntegrationNamed as a third-party AI Service Provider in Pillar's Privacy Policy alongside OpenAI and Anthropic. Google Cloud AI processes data to enable Pillar's AI Products (applications, bots, research, document generation, search).

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Eka Software Solutions: Eka is an established CTRM/ETRM platform serving commodity trading and risk management for metals, agriculture, and energy. It is the most direct incumbent peer, targeting similar mid-to-large commodity businesses with end-to-end risk management tooling.
• Aspect (NeoXam): AspectCTRM (now part of NeoXam) is a long-standing commodity trading and risk management platform for metals, soft commodities, and energy firms. Comparable in target market and core functionality to Pillar's hedging automation, though typically serving larger enterprises.
• Kantox: Kantox provides automated FX risk management and hedging tools targeted at mid-market and SME treasurers. Direct peer in democratizing institutional-grade FX and currency hedging for businesses without dedicated trading desks.

Broad incumbents

• ION Openlink: ION's Openlink is one of the most established CTRM platforms globally, used by large banks, trading houses, and commodity corporates. Comparable risk management functionality but at significantly higher enterprise scale, pricing, and implementation footprint than Pillar.
• Murex: Murex provides integrated trading, risk, and post-trade processing platforms widely used by financial institutions and commodity-exposed corporates. Overlaps with Pillar on FX and commodity risk management but is a broad enterprise platform rather than a focused SME solution.
• FIS Commodity Trading & Risk: FIS offers commodity trading and risk management software as part of a broad financial technology portfolio. Comparable functionality at enterprise scale but not focused on the SME segment Pillar targets.

Emerging players

• Kpler: Kpler provides commodity data, analytics, and freight tracking used by trading houses. Comparable in serving commodity-driven decision-making and increasingly overlapping on analytics-driven trading workflows, though not a hedging execution platform.
• Vortexa: Vortexa is an emerging data and analytics platform for oil and freight markets. Adjacent peer in real-time commodity exposure visibility, though focused on data and analytics rather than execution.
• TreasurySpring: TreasurySpring provides a treasury and FX risk management platform targeted at SMEs and corporates without full treasury infrastructure. Comparable SME-focused, fintech-led approach to risk automation.

Others

• ComTech Advisory (ComTech): ComTech Advisory is a specialist consultancy and industry analyst covering CTRM and commodity trading technology. Useful comparable in market structure and competitive context, though not a software competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors7 records

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 Pillar