Few weeks ago the provider of institutional trading solutions for FX and Digital Assets, TradAir, completed an $11M Series D round, led by new investors GF Investments and the family office of Harvey Golub, former Chairman and CEO of American Express.
Over the last year, the company has delivered strong financial, product, and operational performance, including 45% revenue growth and the launch of several new products.
Ayal Jedeikin founded TradAir Ltd. in 2010 and currently serves as Chief Executive Officer. He joins LeapRate today to talk about the company’s growth, partners and updates.
LR: Good morning, Ayal, thank you for joining LeapRate today. Firstly, I would like to clarify the recent executive moves in the company. Viral Tolat took over TradAir’s CEO position in May 2018, after the previous CEO Illit Geller decided to step down in June 2017. Turns out that Tolat has recently founded a new technology firm named Neural Engines and has been its CEO since last month. Is he still working for TradAir though?
Ayal: Viral has not been with TradAir since September 2018. We wish him well on his new endeavor.
LR: According to LinkedIn, you’ve been the company’s CEO since September 2018. What has changed for the company since then?
Ayal: Correct, I assumed the position in September 2018 with the departure of Viral. Since taking the role, I’ve taken the company’s strategic vision back to its core value proposition for our clients, to provide banks and brokers a customized trading experience that leverages our UX expertise and technologies, allowing our clients to differentiate themselves and optimize trade flows in both local and global market places. This change in strategy has been well received by our clients, and contributed to our significant recent growth.
LR: Have you made any new major platform updates since the arrival of new Chief Technology Officer, Sebastien Donadio?
Ayal: Yes, two primary updates since Sebastien’s arrival. The first was a change in the backend architecture in 2018 that has lead to a more robust platform, that is highly performant and configurable. Our most recent update due out next month, which will be providing a new front end for clients, as well as well as enhanced sales dealer functionality.
LR: You’ve recently teamed up with Nexus and Alior Brokerage House. How would you comment these partnerships so far?
Ayal: We view our clients as partners, and things could not be better. These clients demonstrate the flexibility of our technology to support the unique workflows for both FX and Digital Asset markets. We continue to grow to grow in both areas, which could not be not be done without partners like Nexus and Alior.
LR: The company has just completed an $11M Series D round, led by new investors GF Investments and the family office of Harvey Golub, former Chairman and CEO of American Express. What next?
Ayal: The objective of the funding round was to continue to fuel our growth, that includes all aspects of our business that support our underlying goal of providing our clients a highly advanced trading experience that enhances each clients unique value proposition and workflow. We continue to innovate on our industry leading interfaces and comprehensive white label service and analytic capabilities to ensure each of our clients have the best technology in the industry, allowing them to increase their market share and optimize trade flows.
LR: How do you see TradAir setting itself apart from the crowd? Any new services now offering?Â
Ayal: It’s in the unique relationships we have with each of our partner/clients. Our technology, particularly our UI’s are and will continue to be best in class. However, merging technology with each clients unique requirements is what we do best. This includes everything from end to end trading platforms, analytics, market making and distribution, integrated sales dealer functionality, and customizable front ends.
LR: What can we expect to see from TradAir going forward? Â
Ayal: To date we have grown our business through the relationships of sales teams and client and liquidity provider recommendations. Our relationships with our clients is that of a partner, providing a high level of service and personalization, essentially becoming an extension of their IT and technology staff. We are now at a point where we will be ramping up our teams to significantly grow our business to service more clients, without compromising the high level of service and quality our clients have come to expect from us.
Prior to TradAir Ayal Jedeikin was VP of Products for Traiana, acquired by ICAP in 2007 as well as Director of Product at Diligent Software, a Silicon Valley firm. Ayal Jedeikin holds an MBA and Bachelor of Science in electronic engineering from Tel Aviv university. Jedeikin served 6 years in the IDF air force managing special project for the research department.