Mochatrade has raised $5.56 million to build a rupee-funded trading platform for Indian users seeking leveraged exposure to U.S. stock prices, placing it among a growing group of products offering derivatives rather than direct overseas share ownership.
CoinFund led the seed round, joined by Coinbase Ventures and Nicky Montana of Zero Knowledge Ventures. The company said its earlier pre-seed financing totaled $690,000 and included Y Combinator and Pioneer Fund, bringing total funding to the stated $5.56 million.
The startup is developing perpetual futures contracts tied to U.S.-listed companies including Nvidia, Tesla and Apple. Perpetual futures are derivatives with no fixed expiry date, allowing users to take leveraged positions on whether an asset’s price will rise or fall. Traders do not receive shares, voting rights, dividends, or other ownership rights associated with buying stock through a brokerage account.
Mochatrade’s pitch centers on connecting those contracts to India’s Unified Payments Interface, or UPI. Users can deposit rupees through the domestic payments network rather than first opening a U.S. brokerage account or buying foreign currency for direct equity purchases.
Seed financing followed Y Combinator backing
Co-founder Chetan Manda said the seed round closed in July, following a pre-seed announcement in May that did not disclose a funding amount. Both financings used post-money simple agreements for future equity, known as SAFEs, rather than priced equity rounds, Manda said.
Y Combinator invested $500,000 earlier this month in USDC on Base, according to the company. Mochatrade’s founders participated in Y Combinator’s Spring 2026 batch.
The company was started in April 2026 by Manda, chief executive Utkarsh Sinha, and chief technology officer Parth Maheshwari. The founders said they met at IIT and have known one another for roughly a decade.
Mochatrade has 11 full-time employees, with its core team split between New York and Bangalore. Manda said the founders make up the company’s board and that the business expects to add staff across operations, engineering and growth as it expands.
The new capital will go toward trading technology and customer acquisition, according to Manda. Mochatrade earns revenue from fees on trades placed through its platform and has no plan to launch a token “as of now,” he said.
A derivatives product built around local deposits
The platform is currently in beta, with early access being released gradually. Mochatrade said more than 20,000 people have joined its waitlist and that it expects to open publicly in the coming weeks.
Mochatrade operates in India through ALSD Technologies Private Limited, which the company said holds a Financial Intelligence Unit-India registration under reference number VA00049752. FIU-IND registration is generally associated with anti-money-laundering reporting obligations for covered virtual digital asset service providers; it does not by itself settle the regulatory treatment of every product offered on a platform.
That distinction could be relevant as Mochatrade expands beyond crypto-linked trading into products referencing foreign equities. The startup’s contracts track stock prices but do not represent direct purchases of U.S. securities. Its planned additions — U.S. stock options, more assets and social-trading features — remain subject to applicable laws and regulatory approvals, Manda said.
India already has an active market for derivatives, while regulators have increased scrutiny of retail participation in certain high-risk contracts. Mochatrade is positioning itself around a separate access route: short-term or leveraged views on major U.S. companies funded through a familiar local payment method.
That setup may appeal to users who follow U.S. technology stocks but do not want the account structures and settlement process involved in holding foreign shares. It also carries the usual risks of leveraged perpetual futures, where relatively modest price movements can produce outsized gains or losses and may force positions to close if collateral falls below required levels.
Competition spans crypto platforms and stock apps
Manda said comparable products are available through Hyperliquid and Indian crypto platforms including CoinDCX, Delta and CoinSwitch. Those services have helped establish an audience for derivatives trading, although individual products can differ significantly in leverage limits, collateral, market structure and legal availability.
Mochatrade also sits alongside India-facing apps such as INDmoney and Vested Finance, which facilitate buying and holding U.S. shares. The difference is structural: those services focus on investment-style access to equities, while Mochatrade is building a trading venue for price-linked derivative contracts.
The split matters for users evaluating the products. A trader using a Mochatrade perpetual contract would be taking exposure to a stock’s price movement, potentially with leverage, rather than accumulating ownership in Nvidia, Tesla or Apple. Long-term holders and active derivatives traders therefore face different costs, risks and tax or compliance considerations.
Sinha previously led Martian Wallet, which Mochatrade said surpassed 2 million installs across more than 50 countries before Pontem Network acquired it last year. Manda was previously director of product management at Sprinklr, while Maheshwari previously worked at Adobe and Navi, according to their LinkedIn profiles.
Mochatrade’s launch will test whether UPI-based deposits can turn existing interest in U.S. equities and crypto derivatives into sustained demand for a product built around stock-price perpetuals. Its ability to do so will depend not only on user growth, but on reliable execution, transparent risk controls and a regulatory framework that permits the planned expansion.
Want deeper insight into perpetual futures like Mochatrade’s? Learn the basics in this guide before you trade.
Disclaimer: The content on this page is provided for general informational purposes only and does not represent the views or financial advice of Toobit. We make no guarantees regarding the accuracy or completeness of this information and shall not be held liable for any errors, omissions, or outcomes resulting from its use. Investing in digital assets involves risk; users should independently evaluate their financial situation and the risks involved. For further details, please consult our Terms of Service and Risk Disclosure.
