The $1.7T syndicated mortgage market and the multi-hundred-billion-dollar CLO market have lengthy operated by means of guide, time-consuming processes that create inefficiencies and restrict liquidity for institutional merchants. Regardless of these markets’ huge dimension and significance to the monetary system, digital buying and selling has been nearly non-existent, with most transactions nonetheless performed by means of telephone calls and spreadsheets. Octaura addresses this problem by offering the primary complete digital buying and selling platform for syndicated loans and collateralized mortgage obligations (CLOs), combining real-time buying and selling capabilities with superior knowledge analytics and connectivity options. The platform has demonstrated outstanding progress, capturing 4.6% of complete secondary mortgage buying and selling quantity inside simply two years of launch whereas increasing from 3 to 25 sellers and from 34 to 146 buy-side corporations. With the upcoming launch of their CLO buying and selling platform and continued innovation in knowledge analytics, Octaura modernizes these important credit score markets fully.
AlleyWatch sat down with Octaura CEO and Co-Founder Brian Bejile to study extra concerning the enterprise, its future plans, and up to date $46.5M funding spherical.
Who had been your buyers and the way a lot did you increase?
Octaura started as an initiative between Financial institution of America and Citi to deal with the challenges and limitations inside the syndicated mortgage and CLO markets. The corporate launched in 2022 with the backing of Moody’s Analytics, Citi, Financial institution of America, Credit score Suisse, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo.
We additionally not too long ago introduced $46.5M in a major funding spherical, backed by continued assist from founding buyers plus six new buyers – Barclays, Deutsche Financial institution, BNP Paribas, Apollo and Motive Companions, MassMutual Ventures, and OMERS Ventures.
Inform us concerning the services or products that Octaura presents.
Octaura is a platform for electronically buying and selling leveraged loans and collateralized mortgage obligations (CLOs). Our know-how brings collectively buying and selling, real-time knowledge and deep analytics, enabling merchants to successfully entry liquidity and obtain finest execution.
What impressed the beginning of Octaura?
I began my profession at Citi as a CLO dealer doing plenty of guide work. I used to be consistently searching for methods to automate and make my life simpler, and because the leveraged loans and CLO markets grew to become a lot bigger, I spotted your entire {industry} wanted a unique strategy to do issues.
My workforce at Citi constructed an e-trading platform on Citi Velocity to automate buyer bid collections on CLO Bids Needed in Competitors (BWIC). Up till this level, most market members believed that we may by no means commerce electronically. We dispelled that after which it wasn’t a stretch that an agnostic, multi-dealer platform may exist.
From there, Citi stated, “That’s nice – when you can create a platform, we are going to assist you”. Then I used to be capable of get Financial institution of America excited concerning the thought, which led to conversations with the remainder of the founding buyers, and Venture Octopus was born.
Octaura finally launched in April 2022 meaning to create the primary digital buying and selling platform for syndicated loans and CLOs.
How is Octaura totally different?
Octaura has reimagined the best way the syndicated mortgage and the CLO markets commerce as a result of it launched with assist and platform customers from each the purchase and promote sides since day 1.
It was constructed to unravel an industry-wide problem and tackle inefficiencies in these markets which have traditionally been guide and time-consuming. By way of Octaura, merchants can purchase and promote loans and CLOs within the secondary market extra simply – one thing that has by no means been obtainable earlier than. In consequence, members have higher accessibility, fewer errors and a extra streamlined buying and selling course of.
As well as, Octaura improves the supply and use of knowledge and analytics options for the mortgage and structured credit score markets – making a extra clear market broadly.
What market does Octaura goal and the way massive is it?
We work with institutional merchants on each the buyside and sellside and presently function within the U.S.
Our syndicated mortgage platform has gained vital traction since its launch. Between April 2023 to April 2025, we grew our supplier community from 3 to 25 and expanded our buy-side participation from 34 to 146 corporations.
We’re persevering with to develop quick – within the first quarter of 2024, Octaura reached 1% of secondary mortgage buying and selling quantity, and only one 12 months later, captured 4.6% of complete market quantity, underscoring the platform’s broader influence on the mortgage market. Capturing this share of buying and selling exercise within the mortgage market on our platform so shortly displays our dedication to purchasers and the urge for food for know-how within the area.
What’s your small business mannequin?
Octaura’s mortgage and CLO buying and selling platform is a transaction-based charge mannequin. Octaura’s knowledge and analytics product choices are subscription-based.
How are you making ready for a possible financial slowdown?
In periods of financial uncertainty, Octaura is a superb place for institutional merchants to supply liquidity. We noticed this firsthand throughout April’s interval of heightened volatility as a result of tariffs. Octaura was a useful resource for merchants trying to handle threat throughout financial uncertainty and supply liquidity from the market, leading to elevated buying and selling volumes on the platform.
What was the funding course of like?
We had been thrilled to obtain continued backing from our founding buyers and welcome a gaggle of recent strategic buyers who imagine in Octaura’s imaginative and prescient. This marks an thrilling new chapter for Octaura.
What are the largest challenges that you just confronted whereas elevating capital?
There’s merely loads to do once you’re elevating capital with over a dozen buyers. Getting everybody aligned, whereas additionally assembly the wants of our purchasers and constructing an excellent product can definitely be difficult, however we have now the workforce in place to do it.
What elements about your small business led your buyers to write down the test?
We’re extraordinarily strategic with our targets and targeted on addressing consumer challenges. Plus, the platform’s confirmed use case inspired buyers to assist our progress.
We’re extraordinarily strategic with our targets and targeted on addressing consumer challenges. Plus, the platform’s confirmed use case inspired buyers to assist our progress.
What are the milestones you intend to attain within the subsequent six months?
This funding will permit Octaura to digitize the credit score market by means of continued innovation over the following a number of months, together with:
Proceed to penetrate market share within the leveraged mortgage market
Launch its CLO buying and selling platform
Construct progressive and demanding knowledge and analytic options for the market
What recommendation are you able to provide corporations in New York that wouldn’t have a recent injection of capital within the financial institution?
Be nimble together with your workforce and don’t scale too shortly. Since inception, we have now targeted on hiring strategically based mostly on enterprise wants and we really feel fortunate that New York has a deep pool of unimaginable expertise.
New York additionally affords an unimaginable neighborhood of like-minded founders, inventive entrepreneurs, and tech-forward thinkers. Once I’m feeling caught, I prefer to faucet into my broader community for some recent perspective and inspiration.
The place do you see the corporate going now over the close to time period?
We’re targeted on launching the platform for our second asset class – CLOs. There are comparable challenges within the CLO market, so we have now developed an answer that mixes digital execution, superior knowledge, deep analytics and a set of connectivity for sellside and buyside members. Having a view of each the mortgage and CLO markets on the platform may be very complementary.
What’s your favourite spring vacation spot in and across the metropolis?
We prefer to usually assist our native Penn District institutions for enterprise dinners – particularly if there’s an outside patio concerned!
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