BMLL Secures $21 Million in Strategic Investment as Optiver Takes Stake
BMLL, a prominent provider of historical financial market data and analytics, has successfully raised $21 million in a new funding round, led by global market maker Optiver. This funding will support BMLL’s plans for global expansion and continued product development. Optiver, as part of the deal, will integrate BMLL’s data into its trading operations, enhancing its algorithm development and market analysis capabilities.
This investment follows BMLL’s $26 million Series B round, which took place nearly two years ago. Over the past 18 months, BMLL has significantly expanded its data offerings, adding over 40 new datasets in equities and futures. The company’s data now covers 98% of the MSCI All Country World Index, and its analytics span more than 100 global trading venues, making it a valuable resource for a wide range of market participants, including brokers and regulators.
Paul Humphrey, CEO of BMLL, emphasized the impact of the company’s recent growth:
“We have a diverse team of investors with extensive expertise in global markets and technology. This new funding allows us to further scale our business, expanding our data feed services and product offerings around the world,” Humphrey said.
See our interview with BMLL CEO Paul Humphrey which has received over 3,000 views!
The funding round also saw participation from existing investors FactSet, Nasdaq Ventures, and IQ Capital’s Growth Fund, with CTC Venture Capital coming on board as a new investor. Optiver’s involvement represents a significant strategic partnership, as it plans to incorporate BMLL’s historical Level 3, 2, and 1 data into its trading systems to boost its execution analysis and market surveillance.
Pat Cooney, Managing Director of Optiver Europe, praised BMLL’s data quality and advanced analytics tools, stating, “BMLL’s data and expertise have considerably improved our ability to generate insights that influence our strategies. We believe this partnership will also deliver substantial value to other market participants.”
The investment highlights a broader industry shift towards a “buy-to-build” approach for market data infrastructure. Rather than developing proprietary systems, firms are increasingly relying on specialized providers like BMLL for high-quality, ready-to-use data.
This funding round builds on BMLL’s Series B in 2022, which saw participation from FactSet, Nasdaq Ventures, and IQ Capital’s Growth Fund. In 2023, Snowflake Ventures joined the investment, further fueling the company’s growth trajectory.
