Databento, a financial technology company providing market data infrastructure for modern financial markets, has raised $100 million in Series C funding at a $1.1 billion valuation, achieving unicorn status.
The funding round was led by Fifth Down Capital, an early investor in the company. Existing investors, including NEA, DRW Venture Capital, Tribe Capital, and Hedosophia, also participated. Fitch Ventures joined the round as a strategic investor.
The latest investment follows Databento’s $97 million Series B funding round earlier in 2026. Since its previous funding round, the company has more than doubled its revenue while maintaining profitability.
“In this AI era, we’re seeing remarkably small teams build billion-dollar companies, but that level of efficiency is unprecedented in the market data industry,” said Christina Qi, co-founder and CEO of Databento. “Until now, reaching this milestone required hundreds of employees given the sheer scale of physical infrastructure involved. I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve accomplished, and we’ll continue to prioritize exceptional talent as we grow.”
“Fifth Down first invested in Databento pre-revenue, as we recognized early on that the company had an opportunity to challenge the established model for delivering financial market data,” said Andrew Spellman, founder and CEO of Fifth Down Capital. “Our confidence has only grown as Databento’s traction and execution have demonstrated it can serve demanding institutional customers, sustain rapid growth, and build a profitable business. Databento’s performance has reinforced our original thesis and strengthened our conviction in the company. We are thankful to Christina and Luca for the opportunity to increase our investment and involvement by leading the Series C financing.”
Databento provides real-time and historical financial market data to quantitative trading firms, brokerages, asset managers, commodities businesses, and digital asset companies.
The company’s platform offers market data across futures, options, equities, and indices through a single API. Its technology helps financial institutions and developers access and process market information through a unified infrastructure.
Databento has also expanded its presence in the artificial intelligence sector, securing enterprise contracts with five of the six leading frontier AI labs.
“Financial data is becoming increasingly API-driven and machine-consumed, creating an opportunity to fundamentally rethink how institutions and other market participants access it,” said Gabby Munoz, Global Head of M&A and Venture Investments at Fitch Group. “Databento has built differentiated infrastructure at the source and paired it with a modern, self-service model that makes institutional-grade market data available on demand. We’re excited to back the team as they scale a platform we believe will help shape how market data is captured, delivered, and consumed.”
Despite reaching a $1.1 billion valuation, the company had just 39 employees when it closed its Series C round. Its growth highlights its ability to scale its market data infrastructure while maintaining a relatively small workforce compared with traditional financial data providers.
The company also received strategic investment from Fitch Ventures, the investment arm of financial information provider Fitch Group, bringing additional industry expertise in credit ratings, financial data, and market insights.
Databento plans to use the new funding to strengthen its market data infrastructure and expand its coverage into additional asset classes.
