Why we invested in Valstro

Order management in capital markets is still dominated by legacy technology, fragmented infrastructure, and systems that were never designed for the speed and complexity of modern trading.

While execution and analytics have seen meaningful innovation, the core order management layer has remained stubbornly static. Firms continue to rely on monolithic, on-premise OMS platforms that are slow to upgrade, expensive to maintain, and difficult to adapt as markets evolve. The result is slower time-to-market for new strategies, higher operational costs, constrained technology teams, and a competitive disadvantage for firms unable to move as quickly as the market demands.

The pressure on existing infrastructure continues to mount. Structural shifts across capital markets — including the rise of 24/7 trading, tokenization, and prediction markets — are accelerating the need for cloud-native, continuously improving systems. At the same time, AI is raising both the opportunity and the bar: Motive Partners believes firms that can deploy and iterate on trading technology faster are better positioned to capture competitive advantage, while those locked into legacy systems fall further behind.

This is why our Venture team invested in Valstro.

Who they are

Valstro is building the enterprise-ready, plug-and-play, cloud-native OMS purpose-built for the demands of modern capital markets. Unlike legacy platforms or custom-built solutions, Valstro delivers a system designed from the ground up for flexibility, scalability, and continuous improvement — without the implementation complexity or cost that has historically come with enterprise-grade trading infrastructure.

What they do

Valstro’s platform is designed to give capital markets firms greater control over their trading technology, enabling accelerated enhancements, reduced operational costs, and new revenue opportunities. At the core of the platform is an AI-enabled architecture that combines integrated trader assistant tools with automated, deterministic trading workflows, allowing firms to innovate faster without sacrificing reliability. Critically, Valstro is built to replace costly and error-prone manual testing with AI-driven automated testing across unit, integration, and end-to-end processes — enabling clients to test faster, release more frequently, and stay current with the latest platform and security enhancements. The platform also provides full access to transactional and reference data via open-source query language and business APIs that unlock interoperable workflows, positioning firms to adapt as market structure continues to evolve. Rather than requiring firms to build or heavily customize, Valstro’s plug-and-play architecture is designed to allow institutions to go live significantly faster than traditional enterprise OMS implementations.

Why we invested

Motive Partners believes the winner in order management for capital markets will be the platform that combines true enterprise-grade reliability with the agility of a cloud-native architecture — one that gets better over time rather than requiring costly upgrade cycles. Valstro stands out by addressing a gap that has persisted for years: the absence of a modern, flexible OMS that firms can deploy without the friction and lock-in of legacy alternatives. The team’s deep understanding of how capital markets technology operates in production makes them well-positioned to build and scale this platform.

Paul Walker, Industry Partner & Global Advisory Council Member of Motive Partners and Valstro Board Member, shares his perspective: “Valstro brings an experienced team delivering critical modern trading workflows and AI tools to major equity markets globally. We are thrilled to be among its investors, alongside Portage and EJF Ventures.”

We’re backing the Valstro team as they build the future of order management for capital markets.

-----

^Disclaimer

^{This document is published by Motive for informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice, a recommendation, or a solicitation to invest in any fund or security. Valstro is a portfolio company of funds managed by Motive; its inclusion should not be construed as an endorsement of its products or services or a representation that Valstro will be profitable or successful in executing on its business strategy. Paul Walker is an Industry Partner of Motive and a board member of Valstro, and receives compensation in connection with these roles. His views reflect his own opinions and do not constitute an endorsement of Motive's advisory services or a guarantee of Valstro’s future performance. References to product capabilities reflect Motive’s current understanding of Valstro’s platform as of the date of publication and are subject to change. Actual client results will vary depending on implementation, use case, and market conditions. Forward-looking statements reflect Motive's current beliefs and involve risks and uncertainties; actual developments may differ materially. Nothing herein constitutes an offer to invest or a representation that any Motive managed investment vehicle will be profitable or successful in executing on its investment strategy.}