A bridge from the old world to the new
We believe in a future where world finance operates on a common platform – and we are its interface.
Our Story
The developing crypto space had always fascinated our founders, and individually they spent a number of years working in the nascent industry even before starting their own company.
Then, while Oliver, Arnaud, and Simon studied together – at Supaero and then UC Berkeley – they identified a gap in the early stage global cryptocurrency market. Aplo (originally named SheeldMarket) soon followed as a fully-fledged cryptocurrency trading business.
Jacques Lolieux, a renowned trader with 25+ years of experience and the creator of Credit Suisse’s famous dark pool, joined quickly after as the final member of the founding team.
Together, they have made rapid advances in rolling out cryptocurrency trading services to a wide range of customers around the world. And Aplo’s best-in-class platform is already trusted by dozens of institutional investors to optimize their investments.
Following a $1m seed round in 2020, the following year we raised $10m in funding from established investors including Atomico, DraperDragon, and Axeleo. This investment enabled us to continue scaling our prime broker services, as well as pushing into new product areas that will fully realize the potential of cryptocurrency trading and digital asset investment more broadly.
Our ultimate goal is to enable businesses to offer better financial services with greater reach, through a new system of finance.
Our Leadership
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Ingrid Richard
Head of Risks & Compliance
ExpandIngrid has 23 years of management experience in retail and commercial banking, for leading French institutions such as BNP and BPCE. Her experience includes business development, internal auditing, quality management and anti-money laundering. She joined Aplo in order to structure and lead the Risks & Compliance department.
Oliver Yates
CEO
ExpandHaving been in the digital asset space for several years, Oliver spearheads the project. In 2016 he built the first blockchain-enabled insurance contract for the largest French insurer. In 2017 he was in charge of a research project on Ethereum security exploits at his university laboratory. In 2018 he helped design risk & trading signals for cryptocurrency funds at Merkle Data, in the Bay Area. He holds a MSc in Applied Mathematics from Supaero and a joint MSc in Technology Entrepreneurship from Ecole Polytechnique and HEC Paris.
Jacques Lolieux
VP of Trading and Research
ExpandJacques brings over 25 years of experience in equities trading and technology, both on the sell and buy side. As the head of Electronic Market Making at Credit Suisse, he built CrossFinder EU - one of the largest cash equity Dark Pools in the world. He recently exited a market making company accounting for over 5% of US equities volume.
Arnaud Carrere
CTO
ExpandArnaud has extensive technical background in cryptography, cybersecurity and real-time systems. After working on lightning strike damage analysis at Airbus, he designed software for the largest French cryptocurrency mining pool. He holds a MSc in Computer Science from Supaero and a joint MSc in Technology Entrepreneurship from Ecole Polytechnique and HEC Paris.
Simon Douyer
COO
ExpandSimon is the professional problem-solver at Aplo. His background includes designing and building an all-electric car, onboarding institutional customers at an early stage HR-tech company and designing better algorithms for the Bitcoin Lightning Network. He holds a MSc in Systems Engineering from Supaero and a joint MSc in Technology Entrepreneurship from Ecole Polytechnique and HEC Paris.
François-Xavier Del Boca
Head of Prime Services
ExpandFrançois-Xavier has always been captivated by financial markets. From 2006 to 2017, he worked successively at Lehman Brothers, Barclays and Deutsche Bank, covering institutional clients in Equity Derivatives Sales. In 2018 he launched his business around vintage watches, a family passion that is still alive today. He joined Aplo in 2020 to lead the sales team and propel crypto to global institutional clients.
Our Advisors
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Charles Songhurst
ExpandAs GM of Global Corporate Strategy at Microsoft, Charles ran the Yahoo Acquisition and commercial deal, and drove the Skype Acquisition. Before running Corporate Strategy, Charles was focused on the emergence of Google and the growth of the search industry. He now invests in a wide range of start ups.
Louis Baudoin
ExpandLouis has been working in DeFi for the last couple of years. He is currently working with Maker and Starkware. Before that, he was head of payments at Anchorage, joined via acquisition of Merkle Data. Louis has been a PM for 8 years and has a background in Finance and Engineering.
Strategic partners
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