/Companies

Architect

Chicago, US · Founded 2022 · 21 known investors

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Chicago fintech building institutional trading technology, US brokerage services and AX, a perpetual futures exchange on traditional assets.

Also known as Architect · Architect Bermuda Ltd. · Architect Financial Derivatives LLC · Architect Financial Technologies · Architect Financial Technologies Inc. · Architect Financial Technologies, Inc.

Founders & leadership

Architect was founded in 2022 by Brett Harrison.

BHBrett Harrison
Brett HarrisonFounder

Board

JS
John SmollenBoard director
VP
Venu PalparthiBoard director
SV
Steven VeninoBoard director
KV
Karista VaethBoard director

Investors · 21

Also in the syndicate · 7

ARK InvestCircleCMT DigitalGeneva TradingMiami International HoldingsleadMiami International Holdings, Inc.leadTrumid

Funding

SEC filings, press & company announcements

$71.8M disclosed across 4 of 5 rounds · 2023–2026

▶$19.3MraisedJun 2026 · 7 investors · Other Technology
Rule 506(b)
Officers, directors & promoters on the filing
  • John SmollenDirector
  • Brett HarrisonExecutive Officer, Director
  • Steven VeninoDirector
  • Karista VaethExecutive Officer, Director
Offering amount
$19.4M
Amount sold
$19.3M
First sale
May 2026
Incorporated
Corporation, Delaware, 2022
Federal exemptions
06b
Full filing on SEC EDGAR ↗
▶$35.5MraisedJan 2026 · 25 investors · Other Technology
Rule 506(b)
Officers, directors & promoters on the filing
  • John SmollenDirector
  • Brett HarrisonExecutive Officer, Director
  • Venu PalparthiDirector
  • Steven VeninoDirector
  • Karista VaethDirector
Offering amount
$40.5M
Amount sold
$35.5M
Sales commissions
$1.3M
Placement agents
Broadhaven Securities LLC
First sale
Dec 2025
Incorporated
Corporation, Delaware, 2022
Federal exemptions
06b
Full filing on SEC EDGAR ↗
▶$12MraisedFeb 2024 · 17 investors · Other Technology
Rule 506(b)
Officers, directors & promoters on the filing
  • Brett HarrisonExecutive Officer, Director
  • Thomas KlocanasDirector
  • Karista VaethDirector
  • Nicolas PriemDirector
Offering amount
$12M
Amount sold
$12M
First sale
Jan 2024
Incorporated
Corporation, Delaware, 2022
Federal exemptions
06b
Full filing on SEC EDGAR ↗
▶$5MraisedJan 2023 · 20 investors · Other Technology
Rule 506(b)
Officers, directors & promoters on the filing
  • Brett HarrisonExecutive Officer, Director
Offering amount
$5M
Amount sold
$5M
First sale
Jan 2023
Incorporated
Corporation, Delaware, 2022
Federal exemptions
06b
Full filing on SEC EDGAR ↗

Source: SEC EDGAR Form D. Amounts as filed; amended filings shown once at their latest values.

Valuation · disclosed

Disclosed events
$187Mvaluation at Series ADec 2025
filing ↗

Source: SEC prospectus filings, and round valuations the company or its investors disclosed — follow each entry's link for the claim.

Company profile

researched Aug 2026

Architect Financial Technologies Inc. (architect.xyz / architect.co) is a Chicago-based financial technology company that, through its subsidiaries, provides institutional trading technology, US electronic brokerage services, and a global perpetual futures exchange. Its regulated entities include Architect Securities LLC, a FINRA-registered introducing broker-dealer for SEC-regulated securities and security derivatives; Architect Financial Derivatives LLC, an NFA-registered independent introducing broker for CFTC-regulated derivatives (NFA #0556853); and Architect Bermuda Ltd., regulated by the Bermuda Monetary Authority, which operates the AX exchange.

AX, launched in November 2025, is described in company materials as the financial industry's first centralized exchange for perpetual futures on traditional asset classes, offering contracts on foreign currencies, interest rates, single stocks, stock indexes, metals and other commodities. Access is currently limited to institutional clients in eligible jurisdictions, with a waitlist for sophisticated individual traders. Alongside the exchange, Architect offers multi-asset brokerage for US-regulated equities, equity options, futures and options on futures, with APIs, SDKs in Rust, Python and JavaScript, paper trading, execution algorithms and customizable dashboards. The company's public GitHub organization hosts related open-source components, including a Python client library (architect-py), read-only mirrors of the architect-sdk and architect-api Rust crates, and an exchange SDK.

A third-party organizational listing describes the company as having 1-10 employees with an office in Chicago and lists leadership including founder and CEO Brett Harrison, a chief business officer, chief financial officer, head of engineering, heads of operations, legal/regulatory compliance, design and marketing.

Compiled by commissioned research from 14 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.

Key figures

latest reported
Post-money valuationDec 2025$187M
Series A capital raised to date (interim)Oct 2025$17M
SIPC protection on cleared accountsDec 2025$500K
Total capital raisedDec 2025$52M

Company-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.

Timeline · 7

launches, deals, and filings
May 2026
Acquisition of IMX Health LLC, a U.S. Designated Contract Market

Architect acquired IMX Health LLC, a CFTC Designated Contract Market, and said it would launch the American Innovation Exchange for futures and options on compute costs and other AI supply-chain inputs, pending regulatory review.

source ↗

Jan 2026
Partnership with Compute Desk to launch exchange-for-physical market for GPU compute

Announced partnership to launch an exchange-for-physical market for GPU compute, per a company press release listed alongside the Series A announcement.

source ↗

Jan 2026
AX expands access to individual investors and omnibus brokerage accounts following regulatory approval

Architect Bermuda Ltd. received regulatory approval enabling AX to expand access to individual investors and omnibus brokerage accounts.

source ↗

Dec 2025
$35M Series A anchored by Miami International Holdings and Tioga Capital

Strategic Series A round to scale the AX perpetual futures exchange; Broadhaven served as advisor to the transaction.

$35M source ↗

Nov 2025
Launch of AX, a regulated centralized perpetual futures exchange for traditional assets

Architect launched AX, operated by Bermuda-based affiliate Architect Bermuda Ltd. under Bermuda Monetary Authority regulation, offering perpetual contracts on foreign currencies, interest rates, single stocks, stock indexes, metals, energy and other commodities to institutional clients. Built on Connamara Technologies' matching engine, with a web interface, low-latency APIs and open-source SDKs; collateral accepted in US dollars and stablecoins.

source ↗

Oct 2024
Became an SEC-regulated broker-dealer

source ↗

Sep 2023
Became a CFTC-regulated derivatives broker

source ↗

Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.

Legal entities · 1

corporate structure
Architect Financial TechnologiesDelaware

▸Research sources · 14

primary sources listed

14 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.

Frequently asked questions

What does Architect do?
Chicago fintech building institutional trading technology, US brokerage services and AX, a perpetual futures exchange on traditional assets.
Who founded Architect?
Architect was founded by Brett Harrison in 2022.
Who are Architect's investors?
Architect's investors include Circle Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, ParaFi Capital, Parafi General Fund, Solari Capital, Galaxy Ventures, Motivate Venture Capital, Race Capital and 6 more.
How much funding has Architect raised?
Architect has disclosed $71.8M raised across 4 of its 5 known rounds.
Where is Architect headquartered?
Architect is headquartered in Chicago, US.