The $1.7T syndicated mortgage market and the multi-hundred-billion-dollar CLO market have lengthy operated by guide, time-consuming processes that create inefficiencies and restrict liquidity for institutional merchants. Regardless of these markets’ large measurement and significance to the monetary system, digital buying and selling has been nearly non-existent, with most transactions nonetheless performed by 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 information analytics and connectivity options. The platform has demonstrated outstanding development, capturing 4.6% of whole 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 information analytics, Octaura modernizes these essential 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 have 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 lately 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 gives.
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 information 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 quite a lot of guide work. I used to be continuously searching for methods to automate and make my life simpler, and because the leveraged loans and CLO markets turned a lot bigger, I spotted the whole {industry} wanted a unique technique to do issues.
My crew at Citi constructed an e-trading platform on Citi Velocity to automate buyer bid collections on CLO Bids Wished in Competitors (BWIC). Up till this level, most market individuals believed that we might by no means commerce electronically. We dispelled that after which it wasn’t a stretch that an agnostic, multi-dealer platform might 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 concept, which led to conversations with the remainder of the founding buyers, and Venture Octopus was born.
Octaura finally launched in April 2022 desiring to create the primary digital buying and selling platform for syndicated loans and CLOs.
How is Octaura completely 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 deal with inefficiencies in these markets which have traditionally been guide and time-consuming. Through Octaura, merchants should purchase and promote loans and CLOs within the secondary market extra simply – one thing that has by no means been accessible earlier than. In consequence, individuals 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 at present 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 seller 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 whole market quantity, underscoring the platform’s broader affect on the mortgage market. Capturing this proportion of buying and selling exercise within the mortgage market on our platform so rapidly displays our dedication to purchasers and the urge for food for know-how within the house.
What’s your enterprise mannequin?
Octaura’s mortgage and CLO buying and selling platform is a transaction-based price mannequin. Octaura’s information and analytics product choices are subscription-based.
How are you getting 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 because of the 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 have been thrilled to obtain continued backing from our founding buyers and welcome a bunch of latest strategic buyers who consider 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 may be merely loads to do if you’re elevating capital with over a dozen buyers. Getting everybody aligned, whereas additionally assembly the wants of our purchasers and constructing an ideal product can actually be difficult, however we have now the crew in place to do it.
What elements about your enterprise led your buyers to put in writing the examine?
We’re extraordinarily strategic with our objectives and targeted on addressing shopper challenges. Plus, the platform’s confirmed use case inspired buyers to assist our development.
We’re extraordinarily strategic with our objectives and targeted on addressing shopper challenges. Plus, the platform’s confirmed use case inspired buyers to assist our development.
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 continued innovation over the subsequent a number of months, together with:
Proceed to penetrate market share within the leveraged mortgage market
Launch its CLO buying and selling platform
Construct modern and significant information and analytic options for the market
What recommendation are you able to provide corporations in New York that shouldn’t have a recent injection of capital within the financial institution?
Be nimble along with your crew and don’t scale too rapidly. 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 unbelievable expertise.
New York additionally affords an unbelievable neighborhood of like-minded founders, artistic entrepreneurs, and tech-forward thinkers. After 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 related challenges within the CLO market, so we have now developed an answer that mixes digital execution, superior information, deep analytics and a set of connectivity for sellside and buyside individuals. Having a view of each the mortgage and CLO markets on the platform could 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 out of doors patio concerned!
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