Paradigm-backed Liquid raises $18 million in new funding to expand its 24/7 multi-asset trading platform

Liquid, which started as a perpetual futures decentralized exchange aggregator and now offers a multi-asset trading platform, has raised $18 million in a "series seed" funding round.

The round was co-led by growth equity firm Left Lane Capital and venture firm Neo, an early backer of Kalshi. Other investors in the round include Paradigm, General Catalyst, Haun Ventures, K5 Global, SV Angel, AntiFund, and Sunflower Capital.

The new round brings Liquid's total funding to $25.6 million, following a $7.6 million seed round led by Paradigm last November.

Like the earlier round, the new series seed is structured as equity, Liquid co-founder and CEO Franklyn Wang told The Block. The startup began raising for the round in late November, secured commitments in early December, and formally closed in January, Wang said. He declined to comment on valuation. No investors took board, advisory, or observer seats, and the board remains unchanged, composed of Wang, he said.

Liquid offers a non-custodial trading platform that lets users access crypto and traditional markets, including equities, commodities, foreign exchange, and pre-IPO assets. It also offers access to a prediction market platform and up to 200x leverage, and aims to give retail traders access to tools similar to those of professional investors.

"One of our primary goals for the platform is to democratize access to markets that retail traders have no real access to," Wang said. "By equipping everyday users with advanced tools, including AI-driven research and execution capabilities, we enable retail traders to operate with the same speed and sophistication as professional quantitative investors."

Wang said trading activity is increasingly moving across asset classes, with users shifting between crypto, equities, and commodities. He also said AI is starting to play a larger role in how traders make decisions, and the new funding is aimed at building for both trends, noting that Liquid's AI trading assistant is seeing "incredibly high traction."

Liquid's initial perpetual DEX aggregation, yield vaults, and point-based reward systems also continue to be part of the platform.

Liquid said it has seen more than $3 billion in trading volume across around 40,000 users since launching the platform last August. Wang said the company plans to grow distribution through partnerships.

"Retail participation in financial markets has reached an all-time high, now accounting for 36% of order flow, and that cohort is increasingly seeking directional exposure without the complexity of traditional derivatives," Matthew Miller, managing partner at Left Lane Capital, said in a statement. "Liquid is well-positioned to meet that demand."

New York-based Liquid currently has a team of 15 people and plans to hire selectively, mainly in product and engineering roles, Wang said.

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