Christina Qi left a hedge fund trading $7 billion a day. Her new startup just raised $97 million

Christina Qi left a hedge fund trading $7.1 billion a day to start Databento, a market data infrastructure company. The startup just raised a $97 million Series B led by NEA, Fortune learned exclusively, with participation from DRW Venture Capital, Redpoint Ventures, and Tribe Capital. The round drew over $300 million in demand, the company said. Databento's total disclosed funding is now around $127 million. Qi is running the company from a farm in Utah with 24 employees, and Databento is already profitable. The capital will expand its server presence from inside stock exchanges to more than 20 data centers worldwide and add over 100 petabytes of storage. Databento uses specialized chips to capture and clean real-time price data from 80-plus trading venues and delivers it over a regular internet connection. The company said 400 to 500 people sign up daily, ranging from students to major institutions like the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. Nvidia and OpenAI are customers and partners. Qi said 90% of revenue comes from large financial institutions and AI labs. She added that investors are urging her to spend more of the $97 million raised, though the company remains profitable monthly.