Catalyst
San Francisco-based startup building AI agents that turn a retail investor's trading ideas, stated in plain language, into strategies it executes once the user approves.
- Industry
- fintech, AI trading agents
- Location
- San Francisco, CA
- Website
- https://catalyst.app
- Founded
- 2025
About
Catalyst builds AI agents for retail investors: a user states an idea in plain language, and the agents research it, build a trading strategy, monitor events and execute once the user accepts. Fortune and Crypto Briefing report that Justin Zheng and Dylan Iskandar cofounded the company in 2025. FinSMEs gives its location as San Francisco.
Funding history
| Round | Date | Amount | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|
| Series A 2026 | 2026-10-08 | $30M | Sequoia Capital |
Investors
- Sequoia Capital lead
- SF1 participant
- Selini Capital participant
- Jump Trading participant
- Peak XV Partners participant
- Lux Capital participant
- AntiFund participant
- Coinbase Ventures participant
- Premji Invest participant
Sources
Last verified:
- https://x.com/CatalystLabsX/status/2108255083976880528
Type: company announcement. Accessed 2026-10-09.
Catalyst post on X from @CatalystLabsX, 2026-10-08 17:55 UTC. Says it raised a $30M seed round led by Sequoia, with participation from Jump, Lux Capital, AntiFund, Selini Capital, Peak XV Partners, SF1 and others. - https://sequoiacap.com/article/partnering-with-catalyst-turning-ideas-into-trades
Type: official investor website. Accessed 2026-10-09.
Sequoia Capital post dated 2026-10-08. Says Sequoia is leading Catalyst's seed round and describes the founders and the team's backgrounds at Palantir, Scale AI, Citadel, Hudson River Trading and Jump Trading. - https://fortune.com/2026/10/08/sequoia-backed-catalyst-raises-30-million-build-ai-trading-agents-everyday-investors/
Type: reputable publication. Accessed 2026-10-09.
Fortune article dated 2026-10-08 (11:31 UTC). Reports that Sequoia led Catalyst's $30 million seed round, with Jump Trading, PeakXV, Lux Capital, AntiFund, Coinbase and Premji Invest, and that Justin Zheng and Dylan Iskandar cofounded the company in 2025. - https://www.wsgr.com/en/insights/wilson-sonsini-advises-catalyst-on-dollar30-million-seed-funding.html
Type: other verified public source. Accessed 2026-10-09.
Wilson Sonsini client highlight dated 2026-10-08. Says Catalyst announced a $30 million seed round led by Sequoia Capital on 2026-10-08, with Jump Trading, PeakXV, Lux Capital, AntiFund, Coinbase and Premji Invest. - https://cryptobriefing.com/catalyst-raises-30m-ai-trading-agents/
Type: reputable publication. Accessed 2026-10-09.
Crypto Briefing article dated 2026-10-08. Reports a $30 million seed round led by Sequoia Capital with Jump Trading, Peak XV, Lux Capital, AntiFund, Coinbase and Premji Invest, and says Catalyst was founded in 2025. - https://www.finsmes.com/2026/10/catalyst-raises-usd30m-in-series-a-funding.html
Type: reputable publication. Accessed 2026-10-09.
FinSMEs article dated 2026-10-09. Gives the San Francisco, CA location and reports USD30m led by Sequoia Capital with SF1, Selini Capital, Jump Trading, Peak XV Partners, Lux Capital, AntiFund, Coinbase Ventures and Premji Invest. It calls the round a Series A; the company and the other sources call it a seed round. - https://buttondown.com/raisetrack/archive/raise-track-update-2026-10-09/
Type: other verified public source. Accessed 2026-10-09.
Raise Track Update issue #111 for 2026-10-09, sent 2026-10-09 22:09 UTC (Buttondown archive). Source of the round label, amount and investor list used on this page.