Citadel Veterans Raise US$10 Million Pre-Seed to Launch CFD Broker Epic Markets

Bryan Seegers and Kevin Kimmel, two former executives of Citadel Securities who departed the market-making giant last year, have emerged with a new venture. Their startup, Epic Markets, has secured an unusually hefty US$10 million pre-seed funding round from the London-based venture capital firm Karatage.

"We thank Marius Barnett, Shane O'Callaghan and the Karatage team for their partnership and support as we build a multi-asset brokerage platform grounded in institutional-grade execution standards and engineered to bring elite execution performance to retail traders," the founders stated in a LinkedIn post.

A Staggering Pre-Seed

For now, the project remains cloaked in quiet preparation.

A regulatory disclaimer on the company's landing page indicates that it will at least offer CFDs.

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And while its social media accounts point to a base in the United Arab Emirates, no public regulatory licences have emerged as of yet.

The founders certainly have the pedigree. Until their resignations in mid-2025, Seegers served as director of FX business development at Citadel Securities, and Kimmel was the firm's global head of eFX.

A US$10 million pre-seed cheque is highly anomalous, not just in the CFD sector but across the broader venture capital ecosystem. That Karatage, the sole investor in this round, was willing to write such a sum speaks to the drawing power of the founders' Wall Street credentials.

It also reflects the deep industry roots of the backers themselves: Karatage recently appointed IMC Trading veteran Shane O'Callaghan as a senior partner, suggesting the fund knows exactly what kind of venture it is backing.