Stephen Grugett and Ian Philips have raised $6.4 million to build a market for betting on the AI economy. Their new venture, MNX, is a decentralized futures exchange where traders can take leveraged positions on the valuations of private AI labs, the stock prices of chipmakers, and even the cost of renting a GPU cluster.
It is a direct application of their experience from Manifold Markets, the popular prediction market platform they co-founded. The difference is scale and asset class. MNX is not for forecasting political events or pop culture. It is for taking a financial position on the most expensive technological race in a generation.
From Prediction Markets to Portfolio Margins
The founders are not starting from scratch. Grugett, the CEO, cut his teeth as a trader at Susquehanna International Group before co-founding Manifold Markets [RootData, October 2026]. Philips, the CTO, built the technical infrastructure for Manifold and several other blockchain ventures [RootData, October 2026]. Their thesis is that the community-driven, speculative energy of prediction markets can be channeled into more structured financial products.
MNX’s announced product slate is ambitious, targeting exposures that are difficult or impossible to access through traditional venues. The platform is currently in a testnet phase [MNX, retrieved 2026].
Pre-Seed Round | 6.4 | M USD
Post-Money Valuation | 40 | M USD
The AI Asset Universe
MNX is constructing a multi-layered market around artificial intelligence. The company’s documentation outlines four core categories of contracts [MNX, retrieved 2026].
- Valuation futures on private companies. This is the headline grabber. MNX plans to offer contracts on the implied valuation of private AI giants like OpenAI and Anthropic, with expiration set for the end of 2027 [BigGo Finance, retrieved 2026].
- Perpetual futures on public equities. For companies like Nvidia, TSMC, and ASML, MNX will offer standard perpetual futures contracts, a common crypto-derivative product.
- Compute futures. This category includes more novel underlyings, such as the rental price for an Nvidia H100 GPU and regional data-center electricity costs.
- Prediction markets. Tying back to the founders’ roots, these markets would settle on specific AI milestones, like benchmark results or product launch dates.
The exchange is non-custodial, built on the Ethereum Layer 2 network MegaETH, and will use portfolio margin and batch-auction execution [MNX Docs, retrieved 2026]. The initial target is technology workers and retail traders, not just institutions [The Block, June 2026].
The Village Global Check
A pre-seed round of this size signals investor conviction in both the team and the nascent category. Village Global led the $6.4 million raise, which closed in June 2026 at a $40 million valuation [The Block, June 2026] [RootData, October 2026]. The cap table includes a mix of established crypto funds and notable angels.
| Investor | Type |
|---|---|
| Village Global | Lead Investor |
| Cambrian | Venture Fund |
| North Island Ventures | Venture Fund |
| Finality Capital | Venture Fund |
| Dwarkesh Patel | Angel Investor |
| Byrne Hobart | Angel Investor |
The capital is earmarked for a build-out. At the time of the fundraise, the company consisted of the two co-founders and several part-time contractors, with plans to hire three to six full-time employees within three months [The Block, June 2026]. They have since brought on Alex Masmej, founder of the crypto app Showtime, as chief marketing officer [RootData, October 2026].
The Liquidity Question
The most significant hurdle for MNX is the same one facing any new exchange: liquidity. A futures contract on a private company’s valuation is only as useful as the depth of its order book. The company will need to bootstrap a critical mass of traders willing to take opposing sides on these novel instruments. Their answer likely lies in the community they cultivated at Manifold Markets and the marketing prowess of their new CMO.
Another open question is the sourcing of settlement prices for its more exotic contracts. While public stock prices are readily available, determining a fair market value for an H100 rental or a final valuation for a still-private OpenAI will require robust oracle systems. The technical architecture on MegaETH will be tested here.
The Next Twelve Months
The roadmap is clear. The team must move from testnet to a live, mainnet deployment. Success will be measured not by contract listings, but by open interest and trading volume. The 2027 expiry date on the first tranche of private company valuation futures creates a natural timeline for the platform to prove its utility.
Village Global, Cambrian, and North Island Ventures have placed a $40 million bet that Grugett and Philips can translate a prediction market phenomenon into a legitimate financial venue. The $6.4 million pre-seed gives them runway to try. The question for traders is whether the AI economy needs its own dedicated casino, or if this is a market waiting for its exchange.
Sources
- [The Block, June 2026] MegaETH-based MNX raises $6.4 million pre-seed at $40 million valuation | https://www.theblock.co/news/deals/2026-06-10-megaeth-mnx-pre-seed-funding-valuation-ai-focused-futures-exchange-404281
- [RootData, October 2026] MegaETH ecosystem MNX launched, introducing futures for private AI companies such as OpenAI | https://www.rootdata.com/news/787889
- [MNX, retrieved 2026] MNX, https://mnx.fi/
- [MNX Docs, retrieved 2026] MNX Docs, https://docs.mnx.fi/
- [BigGo Finance, retrieved 2026] MNX valuation futures details | https://biggo.finance/
- [Crypto Briefing, June 2026] MNX raises $6.4M to build a futures exchange dedicated entirely to AI | https://cryptobriefing.com/mnx-raises-6m-ai-futures-exchange/