GoKawiilDatabento, founded by ex-hedge fund trader Christina Qi, raises $97M Series B
Christina Qi, who built and later shut down MIT-founded hedge fund Domeyard after a losing 2020, now runs market data startup Databento as CEO. The company, which serves 70,000 customers including Nvidia and OpenAI, raised a $97 million Series B round in July, bringing total disclosed funding to about $127 million, and reports eight-figure annual recurring revenue.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
The deal signals investor appetite for financial data infrastructure that serves both traditional hedge funds and AI labs, suggesting overlap between quant finance and AI research demand for structured datasets. Qi's reluctance to disclose exact revenue or valuation, citing competition, indicates the data provider space remains tightly contested.
- Qi previously ran a hedge fund trading $7 billion daily before closing it in 2020
- Databento now counts Nvidia and OpenAI among its 70,000 customers
- The company raised $97 million in a Series B, totaling about $127 million in disclosed funding
Source: entrepreneur.com — Sherin Shibu, 2026-10-09
Published there as: “She Grew Up on Food Stamps and Started a Hedge Fund at MIT. Now Her 8-Figure Startup Counts Nvidia and OpenAI as Clients.”
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