Launching a new fund used to be one of the slowest-moving parts of the capital markets, a process that could take weeks, months, or, in some cases, more than a year. That long lead time often left asset managers and broker-dealers frustrated, along with higher instances of failed trades.
Saphyre, a fintech platform focused on pre-trade and post-trade automation, rose to prominence among Wall Street’s largest institutions for having changed that. Its AI-driven technology can have a new fund ready to trade within 24 hours, depending on markets, currencies, and trading instruments. That speed is giving large institutional firms a new competitive edge.
Normalizing Data, Unlocking Revenue
At the heart of Saphyre’s solution is its ability to normalize data across the many counterparties involved in launching and operating a fund, from investment managers and broker-dealers to custodians, middle offices, and asset owners.
The approach reframes technology adoption from a defensive move to a revenue driver. Rather than adopting tools to avoid regulatory penalties, firms can now use technology to win business faster. “Tying technology directly to new revenue makes behavioral change much easier,” the company notes.
This insight came from observing that much of the industry still relied on manual processes — email chains, spreadsheets, and even faxes — to complete fund setup and KYC requirements. By digitizing and automating those workflows, Saphyre reduces onboarding time and improves accuracy across the trading lifecycle.
AI Built for Precision
Saphyre holds more than 100 patents that enable its platform to retain every data point and document shared through a fund’s lifecycle. Its core is a rules-based engine designed to guide users through logical next steps, giving the experience of “predictive” workflows without relying on black-box machine learning models.
The company employs AI in targeted areas such as its AI Agent for Onboarding, which can read unstructured onboarding emails to prefill forms and parse documents to validate instructions. Because Saphyre’s data is already structured and normalized, these agents can operate with higher reliability than generic AI systems. The company emphasizes that it does not train models on private client data and can expunge information when required, a critical consideration for financial institutions.
A Story of Rapid Growth
Saphyre reached its first major growth milestone without raising significant outside capital. For five years, the company operated leanly. During that period, it began generating revenue and landing blue-chip clients.
By the time it closed its Series A round in 2022, Saphyre had proven product-market fit and was ready to scale. The company now counts more than 100 clients and recently announced a $70 million growth equity investment from FTV Capital.
Saphyre Co-Founder and President Stephen Roche attributes its success partly to a disciplined, collaborative culture with low employee turnover. Employees are encouraged to take ownership of goals and are recognized when those goals are met. This emphasis on accountability and recognition has helped Saphyre attract and retain top talent, which in turn fuels its growth.
Positioned for the Future of More Efficient Capital Markets
With its latest growth-equity investment, Saphyre is continuing to expand its technology to other parts of the trade lifecycle, including securities lending and compliance workflows. These capabilities are becoming increasingly important as markets move toward shorter settlement cycles, such as Europe’s planned move to T+1 in 2027.
Many processes that should occur pre-trade, such as KYC, are still handled post-trade in much of the industry. By pulling those steps forward, Saphyre reduces post-trade firefighting, improves operational efficiency, and gives middle offices a proactive operating model suited for faster markets.
Eight years after its founding, Saphyre has become a foundational platform for the entire pre-trade and post-trade lifecycle, a shift that could define how the industry adapts to its next phase of growth. As markets prepare for faster settlement cycles, innovations like AI-driven automation and even complementary technologies such as blockchain are set to play an increasingly central role in creating more efficient, transparent, and resilient capital markets.
