Hypernova raises $3M to build on-chain prop trading

London-based Hypernova raised $3 million in a pre-seed round led by Lemniscap to build a trustless, on-chain proprietary trading platform on Hyperliquid. The round closed in mid-October, was oversubscribed three times and was structured as a SAFE with token warrants. Lemniscap took a board observer seat; other participants included Very Early Ventures, CMS Holdings, Pivot Global and several angel investors from the Hyperliquid ecosystem.

The platform uses smart contracts to automate instant trader payouts and to record and settle trader activity on chain. Hypernova’s system can either send trader positions to market or internalize them, depending on the trader’s track record and available data. The company describes the model as a way to make payout rules transparent and execution verifiable on chain.

Hypernova launched a closed alpha on May 1. Since then the startup has onboarded 250 traders, funded more than 20 accounts and paid out over $30,000. The team plans a public launch in roughly two months.

The company set aside $1 million of the raise as a payout reserve, which it intends to replenish with future revenues. The remaining $2 million will fund hiring and product development. Hypernova currently employs seven people and expects to add a quantitative researcher and a developer within three months.

Revenue during the alpha comes from one-time assessment fees that traders pay to qualify for funded accounts. The firm plans to expand revenue streams by trading alongside successful traders and by adding new product lines once it has larger trader data sets.

Hypernova explains two routing approaches for traders. A-booked traders have their trades sent to market, so the firm realizes profits and losses on those positions. B-booked traders do not have their trades routed to market, so the firm does not absorb losses when those traders lose. The platform will use collected trading data to move reliable traders toward A-booking over time.

Co-founder and CEO Anar Bayramov confirmed the fundraising details and timing. Co-founder and CTO Nijat Bakhshaliyev previously worked as a senior engineer at Coinbase and at Citi; Bayramov led decentralized finance investments at RockawayX. Hypernova operates in a market that includes other crypto-focused prop trading firms such as Breakout, HyperPnL, Propr and Upscale Trade.

On the differences with some retail prop firms, Bayramov observed, “Retail-focused prop firms operate fully on a B-book model, meaning they don't take trades to market. So if their traders make money, the firm has to pay out from its own balance sheet.”