Databento gets 2,000 applications for 20 jobs

Databento founder and Chief Executive Christina Qi advertised the positions during last week’s market turmoil and encouraged employees at multistrategy hedge funds to apply. The company offers remote and flexible work arrangements.

The hiring comes after some hedge fund managers cut investment teams and reduced capital allocations following market losses. Databento already employs former professionals from Citadel, Two Sigma, Tower Research, Flow Traders and Susquehanna International Group.

Most applications came from hedge funds and proprietary trading firms, according to Qi. Candidates also applied from investment banks, fintech companies, cryptocurrency businesses and independent trading operations. Qi described the volume as relatively typical for current employment conditions.

Employment conditions have varied across quantitative trading. Some hedge funds have reduced staffing after losses, while electronic market makers such as Jane Street and Citadel Securities have shown greater resilience.

Founded in 2020, Databento provides market data infrastructure to trading firms and financial institutions. The company raised $97 million in a Series B financing round in July to support its expansion.

In an earlier hiring campaign, Databento received about 20,000 applications for five positions.