Divento

What Divento does

Divento Financials Ltd. is a privately held, London-based company founded in 2008 by James Sullivan, operating from the 2nd Floor, 30 Old Broad Street (Tower 42) in the City of London. The firm runs two interrelated businesses: a proprietary futures and options trading operation across all financial asset classes (including intra-day derivatives, market making, and algorithmic trading models executed against all major global exchanges), and the Divento Academy, which delivers Ofqual-regulated qualifications in financial trading. The Academy's product line consists of a Level 5 Advanced Diploma (32 RQF credits, equivalent to a foundation degree or HND), a Level 3 Diploma, and a Level 2 Award in Foreign Currency Handling, with international portability via the European Qualification Framework and Europass Certificate Supplement.

The company has co-developed the Level 6 Financial Services Apprenticeship Standard (Investment Banking option) with Barclays, HSBC, Santander, RBS, and Pimco through the Apprenticeship Standards Trailblazer, and runs the SITTE (Social Impact Through Trading Education) CSR programme to widen participation in the financial services industry. SITTE is delivered in partnership with Heart of the City, Investment 2020, London Works, Rare, LAPS, and The Passion Project, alongside academic partnerships with City & Islington College and the Success at School national careers platform.

The business model combines proprietary trading returns on the firm's own capital with one-time tuition fees from academy courses. Recruitment of new proprietary traders is sourced from academy graduates, weekly trader experience days, and direct outreach, with a sales-led go-to-market and UK-dominant geographic distribution. Governance includes non-executive directors Hana Searson (Group Head of Executive Development at Barclays) and David Feltes (former COO of CME Europe Ltd.). No private equity, venture capital, or external funding rounds are disclosed, and the company remains closely held by the founding team.

Name

Divento

Legal name

Divento Financials Ltd.

Website

https://diventofinancials.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Divento Financials Ltd. is a London-based proprietary futures and options trading firm that also runs the Ofqual-regulated Divento Academy, delivering accredited trader training qualifications and the SITTE programme to widen participation in financial services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Proprietary Trading: Divento trades futures and options for its own account using in-house traders, generating returns from market positions across all financial asset classes. The company operates as a proprietary trading firm, taking positions using its own capital.
2. Academy Training Courses: Revenue generated from accredited trader training courses including Level 5 Advanced Diploma (5-week course), Level 3 Diploma (3-week course), and Level 2 Award in Foreign Currency Handling. Qualifications are Ofqual regulated and internationally recognised.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Divento Financials is an independent proprietary futures and options trading firm that deploys its own capital across all financial asset classes using in-house algorithmic trading models and market making operations. It also runs the Divento Academy, an Ofqual-regulated trader training school delivering Level 5 Advanced Diploma, Level 3 Diploma, and Level 2 Award qualifications, while recruiting and developing proprietary traders from its graduate pipeline.

Product overview

Divento Financials is a proprietary futures trading company offering two core services: (1) proprietary trading across all financial asset classes using algorithmic trading models and market making operations, and (2) the Divento Academy, which provides accredited trader training qualifications (Level 5 Advanced Diploma, Level 3 Diploma, and Level 2 Award) regulated by Ofqual. The company also operates SITTE, a CSR program that provides financial trading education to disadvantaged individuals as a talent pipeline for the industry.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Divento Academy: Professional trader training academy offering Ofqual-regulated qualifications including Level 2, 3, and 5 Diplomas in Financial Trading.

Products and services

• Proprietary Futures and Options Trading Independent proprietary trading across all financial asset classes including intra-day derivatives, algorithmic trading models, and market making operations. Trading is conducted using the firm's own capital via connections to major global exchanges (CME, Nasdaq, Societe Generale, Liffe, TMX, CQG, Stellar, Object Trading).
• Divento Academy Accredited Trader Training

Quantifiable outcome

• Graduates have secured positions at major financial institutions including Rabobank, BNP Paribas, Credit Union Bank, Ed Broking, and EGR Broking
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• City & Islington CollegecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFully equipped state-of-the-art trading room partnership where Divento delivers its Level 5 Diploma in Advanced Financial Trading, now on the College syllabus. City & Islington College is one of London's leading colleges, the only College in London judged outstanding on every measure by Ofsted.
• Success at SchoolcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerNational careers website for students aged 11-19, reaching over 140,000 young people, careers advisors and teachers monthly. Recommended by the National Careers Service and praised by the Department for Education.
• Heart of the CityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLondon-based network of business leaders, Corporate Social Responsibility practitioners and change agents. UK's largest network for supporting responsible small businesses. Divento is part of this CSR initiative.
• Investment 2020minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInitiative founded by Henderson's CEO and former CEO of JO Hambro to bring more diverse talent into the financial industry. Divento is one of the partners working to achieve this goal.
• Futures For KidsminorOthersCharitable Foundation established by individuals working in the futures and options industry to raise funds for better lives and futures for children. Divento actively supports this cause.
• London WorksminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCommercial not-for-profit recruitment agency established by ELBA (East London Business Alliance) with London's most talented but disadvantaged young people as candidates. All surpluses reinvested into community and education programmes.
• RareminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMulti-award winning diversity company connecting exceptional people with world-class careers and providing cutting-edge data services for better hiring decisions.
• LAPSminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCareers resource platform for future, current and former elite athletes, helping sportspeople redirect motivation and drive into fulfilling new careers in the financial industry.
• The Passion ProjectminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLarge-scale youth engagement programme helping 16-24 year-olds explore employment opportunities by identifying and developing natural skills, talents and passions into meaningful employment routes.
• Barclays, HSBC, Santander, RBS, PimcocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThese major financial institutions participated in the Apprenticeship Standards Trailblazer process alongside Divento to develop the Level 6 Financial Services Apprenticeship Standard (Investment Banking option) that Divento uses in its SITTE programme.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• OSTC (Open Source Trading Company): Proprietary trading firm with an integrated training and development programme for new and experienced traders. Closely comparable operating model to Divento in recruiting, training and deploying proprietary traders across derivatives markets.
• Topstep: Funded trader evaluation platform that recruits aspiring traders, evaluates them and funds successful candidates with firm capital. Competes with Divento for the same aspiring-trader audience and provides an alternative pathway into proprietary-style trading.
• Amplify Trading: UK-based proprietary trading firm that combines a trading floor with a structured trader education programme, very similar dual model to Divento of proprietary capital deployment plus a training academy. Both target aspiring and professional traders in London.
• FTMO: Prop-trading evaluation firm with a strong trader-development and education offering. Targets the same pool of aspiring futures and FX traders as Divento's academy, with a funded-trader model that competes for similar customer segments.

Others

• G.H. Financials: Clearing firm for derivatives through which Divento's founder previously ran trader groups. Functions as a clearing/ecosystem counterparty rather than a direct competitor, but operates in the same London-listed-derivatives market infrastructure.

Broad incumbents

• Optiver: Large global proprietary trading and market-making firm with a strong derivatives book and significant investment in trader training programmes. Comparable as a market-making and derivatives prop firm, though materially larger and more international than Divento.
• Jane Street: One of the world's largest non-bank proprietary trading firms, active across listed equities, options, ETFs and futures. Comparable as a peer in proprietary trading but operates at vastly greater scale, capital base and geographic footprint than Divento.
• Man Group: Large, publicly listed investment manager with a long-running systematic and discretionary proprietary trading heritage. Operates in the same discretionary and quantitative trading space but at vastly greater scale and with public-market governance.
• Marex Spectron: Large global derivatives broker and clearing firm where Divento's founder previously ran groups of traders. Operates broadly in the same derivatives ecosystem and provides prime brokerage, market data and execution infrastructure that supports Divento's prop desk.
• Jump Trading: Global, technology-driven proprietary trading firm active across derivatives and other asset classes. Competes for the same derivatives liquidity pool and algorithmic trading talent but at materially greater scale and capital intensity than Divento.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Divento42
• Facebookfacebook.com/diventofinancials

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 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 Divento