For a long time, the conventional wisdom was that capital markets technology was a graveyard for venture-scale outcomes. Too slow. Too regulated. Too insular.
That narrative is outdated.
I spent the early part of my career on the Goldman Sachs trading floor and watched firsthand as the firm built its own CRM, its own email client, and many other custom tools — massive internal projects defended as strategic necessities.
But today, those decisions would almost certainly never get approved. Three forces are converging at once to make now an incredible time to build and invest in this category:
1. The founders are different. This space is no longer filled with just semi-retired bankers and traders. Young, technical operators are choosing capital markets as the hardest problem set available, with massive upside. I can speak to this directly from experience having invested in and worked closely with 5 teams in this category.
2. Software buyers are ready. Per McKinsey, AI is expected to drive up to 20% in net cost reductions for banks. Financial institutions are buying, not just building.
3. The moats are real. These workflows stitch together dozens of bespoke systems that no general-purpose AI company will elect to integrate. And the public market comps — names like CME, ICE, Tradeweb — show what happens when you win: durable premium valuations across every market cycle.
The best part for all my fellow fintech nerds out there: founders are finding the Toast/Shopify playbook in this market. Sell sticky, recurring software — then earn the right to monetize basis points on massive capital flows.
Check out the full thesis below. If you're building in this space, we at
@oakhcft are actively looking to partner -- please get in touch!