Vest Markets

Situation

Vest, a New York-based trading startup, was preparing to announce its $13 million seed round. The company was entering the retail proprietary trading industry, a fast-growing market where many firms charge fees for simulated trading accounts and profit whether their traders succeed or fail.

Vest was built on a different model. It lets qualifying traders use company capital to trade perpetual futures in real markets around the clock, and it shares in their profits rather than betting against them. For a young company founded by three University of Pennsylvania dropouts, the challenge was to make sure the announcement explained this model clearly, so readers understood the business and not just the amount raised.

Task

Genius PR supported the PR campaign around Vest’s funding announcement, with a tier-one business publication as the central goal.

The campaign focused on four primary objectives:

1. Announce Vest’s $13 million seed round through a major business outlet.
2. Introduce the founders, Justin Ma, Rikuya Takatsu and Maximilian Tsiang, to a broader financial audience.
3. Explain how Vest’s profit-sharing model differs from the rest of the prop trading industry.
4. Create an editorial asset Vest could keep using beyond announcement day.

Action

Rather than treating the raise as a standalone funding headline, the campaign positioned it as the starting point for a larger story about how prop trading should work.

Leading with the Business Model

The story was framed around a clear contrast: much of the industry makes money even when its traders lose, while Vest only wins when its traders do. This gave readers an immediate reason to care about the company beyond the size of the round.

Putting the Founders at the Center

Vest’s three co-founders explained the model directly in an interview with Fortune, including the founding idea of rebuilding the prop firm with the company’s interests aligned with the trader’s.

Building Credibility Through the Round

The story highlighted the strength of the round itself: led by Portal Ventures, with individual backers including senior executives at Citadel Securities, BlackRock and KKR.

Connecting Vest to a Growing Market

The announcement was placed in the context of a growing sector, with industry estimates projecting retail prop trading revenue to reach $850 million in 2026, up about 45% year over year. This positioned Vest as a new player in an expanding market rather than an isolated startup.

Results

Vest’s funding announcement was published as an exclusive feature in Fortune on 7 October 2026.

Media Coverage

• An exclusive Fortune feature on Vest’s $13 million seed round
• Coverage of the founders, the investor syndicate and the company’s profit-sharing model
• Direct founder commentary from Vest’s CEO, Justin Ma

Business Positioning

• Vest’s model, where traders keep up to 80% of their profits, explained to a major business audience
• The company’s growth plans covered, including a mobile app, expansion of its 22-person team and a broader range of tradable assets
• An independent editorial reference Vest can share across its website, social channels and investor and partner conversations

Impact

Vest’s Fortune feature shows that a funding announcement can do much more than report a number.

By leading with what makes Vest different, the campaign turned a seed round into a clear introduction to the company, its founders and its place in a growing market. Readers came away understanding not only that Vest had raised $13 million, but why its model matters.

The result was a lasting communications asset: a tier-one editorial story that continues to explain Vest’s business to traders, investors and partners long after announcement day.