DRW Venture Capital

DRW Venture Capital is the corporate venture arm of DRW Holdings, the principal trading firm founded by Don Wilson in Chicago. Launched in 2014, DRW VC is a stage-agnostic investor focused on financial and enterprise technology where DRW's deep domain expertise adds strategic value beyond capital. The firm invests exclusively with proprietary capital — no outside LPs — giving it significant flexibility in deal structure and timeline. Partner and Head of DRW VC Kimberly Trautmann, a CFA charterholder and Columbia MBA with nine years at Goldman Sachs, leads the investment activity. With 72 investments to date, DRW VC leads rounds and writes first checks of $1 million to $5 million-plus across Seed through late stage. The portfolio spans fintech, Web3, SaaS, data analytics, and cybersecurity. Notable companies include Alpaca ($150 million Series D at a $1.15 billion valuation), Digital Asset / Canton Network ($135 million raise), TRM Labs ($70 million Series C), Talos ($105 million Series B), Crossover Markets, NinjaTrader (acquired by Kraken in March 2025), and CoinLedger. Co-investors include Goldman Sachs, Citadel Securities, Andreessen Horowitz, and BNP Paribas. DRW differentiates by acting as a genuine commercial partner to portfolio companies — serving as a client, providing liquidity, and applying deep trading and financial markets expertise to product development. The firm targets high-quality management teams with meaningful commercial traction, and its proprietary capital base means it can move quickly and maintain conviction positions across market cycles without the LP reporting constraints that govern traditional fund structures.