Talos announces key hires after raising $105m to expand institutional crypto platform
Talos has seen institutional trading volume explode over 20 times year-over-year and was in need of funding to keep scaling the platform and expand into APAC and Europe, as well as to expand its product lines, including pre and post-trade tools.
The appointment of Pamela Lee as Head of APAC Sales, Karan Dalwani as Director of Customer Success for APAC, Phillip Beasley-Harling as VP of Engineering for EMEA, and Conor Shea as Head of Marketing and Communications are aimed at accelerating growth and come on the heels of the company’s $105 million Series B funding round, which valued Talos at $1.25 billion.
The platform, which has gone live in early 2019 and was publicly announced last fall, offers an extensive suite of solutions to support clients through the full crypto trading lifecycle, from price discovery to execution through clearing and settlement and across spot, futures and FX markets.
Talos has experienced significant growth in 2021, a year in which the firm quadrupled its global employee base, including key hires Alfonse Mandese as Head of Sales and Business Development, Justin Schmidt as Head of Strategy, Ant Ludlow as Head of Product Design and Samar Sen as Head of Asia-Pacific.
APAC, Engineering, and Marketing for further growth
Anton Katz, co-founder and CEO of Talos, said: “We are thrilled to welcome this array of talent to the Talos team as we continue to expand our global presence and client base. The extensive leadership and industry expertise of these new hires will enable us to further solidify ourselves as the leading provider of digital asset trading technology. We’re excited to welcome Pamela, Phil and Conor to the team.”
Pamela Lee joins Talos as Head of APAC Sales from LMAX Group, where she was Head of Partnerships and the company’s APAC Crypto Business Development Lead. She has previously held leadership roles at Credit Suisse across various functions. She will leverage her vast career in FX and digital assets to oversee all sales operations to drive the growth of Talos’ new and existing business in the APAC Region.
Karan Dalwani joins Talos as Director of Customer Success for APAC from LSEG APAC, where he was Senior Customer Success executive at the company’s Data & Analytics division. His 15 years of experience in product, workflow-consulting and business development roles includes past roles at Refinitiv, ICICI Bank and FlexTrade. Dalwani will work to develop initiatives and campaigns to drive revenue and optimize customer use of Talos’ services in the APAC region.
Phillip Beasley-Harling joins Talos as VP of Engineering for EMEA from Beasley-Harling Trading, where he was Managing Director. His 20 years of capital markets experience, includes previous executive roles at Squarepoint Capital, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America. Beasley-Harling will coordinate, develop, and oversee all of Talos’ engineering and development activities in the region.
Conor Shea joins Talos as Head of Marketing and Communications after over 10 years of marketing and communications experience with previous executive positions as SVP of Financial Communications & Capital Markets at Edelman and Head of U.S. Marketing at IG. Shea will be responsible for developing, implementing and monitoring Talos’ global business marketing strategy.
Talos powers crypto trading and settlement for brokers, prime brokers, hedge funds, banks, OTC desks
Earlier this month, Talos raised $105 million in a Series B funding round led by equity firm General Atlantic, with participation from several names in both the traditional finance and digital asset spaces, including new investors Stripes, BNY Mellon, Citi, Wells Fargo Strategic Capital, DRW Venture Capital, SCB 10x, Matrix Capital Management, Fin VC, Voyager Digital, Graticule Asset Management Asia (GAMA) and LeadBlock Partners. The fundraiser valued the firm at $1.25 billion.
Talos has seen institutional trading volume explode over 20 times year-over-year and was in need of funding to keep scaling and diversifying the firm’s digital asset platform that powers both buy-side and sell-side firms. The company was also looking to accelerate its expansion into APAC and Europe, as well as to expand its product lines, including pre and post-trade tools.
The funding will also prove valuable to fuel the required massive hiring to put the plan into effect. The team has already grown by over 400% during the past year and offers opportunities in New York, Europe and Singapore, as well as fully remote roles.
Founded in 2018, Talos powers the full trade lifecycle for trading and settlement via a single point of access and caters to broker-dealers, prime brokers, hedge funds, banks, OTC desks, custodians, exchanges, and lenders.
