Catalyst, a startup building AI tools for retail investors, has raised $300 million in seed funding, Fortune reported Thursday.
Sequoia led the round, with participation from Jump Trading, Peak XV, Lux Capital, AntiFund, Coinbase, and Premji Invest.
The startup wants to make it easier for everyday traders to put their investment ideas into action. The idea "is that people will simply state an intent, and we have our agents to figure out everything end to end," Iskandar told Fortune. Users will still need to approve the trades before the agents carry them out.
Sequoia partner George Robson told Fortune that the tools are designed to help users explore and manifest an investment thesis they might have, as well as optimize costs and execute trades when their specified conditions are met.
Catalyst said a pilot run focused on experienced traders generated hundreds of millions of dollars in trading volume over several weeks. However, the startup wants its tools to reach a broader retail audience, opening access to users from a waitlist on Thursday that it expects to expand over time.
Co-founders Justin Zheng and Dylan Iskander launched Catalyst in 2025. Zheng previously worked at Sam Atlman's World, formerly known as Worldcoin.
Catalyst is also working to develop educational features that explain investment risks in terms tailored to individual users, Zheng told Fortune.