Catalyst, a startup established in 2025, secured $30 million in a seed funding round finalized on October 8, 2026. The investment was led by Sequoia Capital, with participation from Jump Trading, Peak XV, Lux Capital, AntiFund, Coinbase, and Premji Invest.
The company is developing AI trading agents designed for retail investors. The platform allows users to define investment objectives in natural language, which the software then converts into a trading strategy. The agents manage research, asset selection, cost optimization, and execution, requiring user approval for trades.
The startup, which first announced its plans and opened a waitlist in March 2026, initially tested its technology with high-frequency traders. The founders are 25-year-old Justin Zheng, formerly of Worldcoin, and 21-year-old Dylan Iskandar, who has a background in cybersecurity research for the US Department of Defense.
