Protogon Research builds autonomous AI systems and deploys them directly into financial markets through proprietary trading. The company's stated mission is to develop the most intelligent AI systems in the world, using trading as a practical testbed for AI that genuinely understands the world - rather than one that simply replicates human behaviour or produces superficial outputs. Its long-term research aim is to chart a path toward superintelligence.
The company was founded by Rafael Cosman, a serial entrepreneur who previously co-founded Archblock and the TrueFi DeFi protocol. Protogon Research is backed by Zelda Ventures, OVO, and StartX, and is a member of the NVIDIA Inception Program.
Protogon's technical work spans machine learning, AI research, trading, and operations. The company describes its technology as original, proprietary, and defensible, and positions itself deliberately apart from traditional quantitative trading firms: the priority is building lasting, transformative AI systems rather than optimising for short-term trading profits. The team is described as highly technical, with deep expertise across its core domains.
