Insider: Talos, a startup helping financial giants trade crypto, just raised a $40 million Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz as Wall Street wades deeper into digital currencies

Talos, a software provider that helps financial firms streamline their cryptocurrency trading, has closed a $40 million Series A round of funding led by Andreessen Horowitz.

The fintech announced the completed capital raise on Thursday, which in addition to a16z, included investment from PayPal Ventures, Fidelity Investments, and Galaxy Digital, among others.

Founded in October 2018 by CEO Anton Katz and CTO Ethan Feldman, Talos offers software that consolidates the various services necessary for financial firms to trade digital assets all in one place. Features include access to liquidity, price discovery, automated execution, and post-trade settlement and analysis.

The fintech’s name is a nod to the first reference in Greek mythology to an automated object — Talos was a giant, bronze automaton that protected the island of Crete.

“We thought it would be temporary name,” Katz said, adding that it was fitting given the focus on automating services. “Investors really loved it, clients really loved it, and there was no way back.”

Not dissimilar to the giant Talos protecting Crete’s assets, the fintech Talos is in the business of securing and protecting digital assets.

“We provide the fabric of interaction between the institutions and the underlying assets,” Katz told Insider in an interview. “Our clients are providing the services to their prospective customers.”

Prior to starting Talos, Katz and Feldman each spent a decade building trading tech across an array of asset classes. Both worked at Broadway Technology, and Katz spent three years as head of trading technology at AQR.

“It was clear that they were a really strong technical team that was also exceptionally well-suited from a background perspective to building this company,” Arianna Simpson, a partner on the a16z crypto investing team, told Insider.

Talos initially caught on with buy-side investors, Katz said, especially systematic trading firms who used the API to connect to different exchanges and trading venues.

Over the past year and a half asset managers, brokers and agents, and other service providers sitting at the nexus of retail traders and institutions have been signing on to Talos.

During the crypto sell-off earlier this month, for instance, lenders turned to Talos for automated liquidation and to manage collateral, Katz said.