PERPTools, the team behind DEXTools, has secured $8 million in funding across two token rounds to accelerate the development of its AI-native perpetual trading platform. The capital will support the expansion of decentralized trading infrastructure that integrates market discovery with execution.
The funding comprises a $3 million pre-seed round at a $30 million fully diluted valuation (FDV), led by DEXTools Ventures and Orderly Network, followed by a $5 million seed round at an $80 million FDV with participation from BigBrain Holdings, NEAR, Animoca Brands, Sfermion, and Shima Capital. The pre-seed round closed in December 2025, and the seed round concluded in early 2026.
Building on Perpetual Futures Infrastructure
PERPTools is focusing on perpetual futures, a segment that accounts for over $10 billion in daily trading volume across decentralized exchanges. The platform leverages Orderly Network's omnichain liquidity engine, an orderbook-based system designed to provide shared liquidity across supported chains without requiring users to bridge assets. This partnership aims to deliver institutional-grade liquidity as the exchange develops.
Evgen Tokarev, CEO of PERPTools, highlighted the company's strategy: "We built the execution layer for 30 million traders already inside DEXTools." He noted that the platform's beta has recorded $240 million in trading volume, and integrating discovery and execution could reduce friction for traders.
Frederic Fernández, Co-Founder and CMO of DEXTools, described PERPTools as a natural extension of the DEXTools ecosystem, moving from market discovery to trade execution. "DEXTools became the place where DeFi found its next trade. PERPTools is the natural next chapter, where the trade itself happens without ever leaving," he said.
Three Products Already Live
PERPTools has launched three products ahead of its planned token generation event. The Perp DEX is a non-custodial perpetual exchange live on mainnet, supporting long and short positions, leverage, and cross-margin, with trades settled through Orderly's omnichain central limit order book.
AI Arena is a marketplace for autonomous onchain trading agents. Users can deploy an agent by setting risk parameters, leverage constraints, and a strategy description in natural language. These agents trade using the liquidity available on the Perp DEX, and other users can deposit USDC into them. Rankings are based on verified 30-day onchain profit and loss.
Tap Prediction offers real-time prediction markets based on perpetual price feeds. Users can stake from $0.10, with payouts of up to 25 times the stake. The platform reports a prize pool exceeding $1 million and is generating revenue before the token launch.
Focus Shifts to Execution Ahead of TGE
With both funding rounds completed, PERPTools is shifting its focus from fundraising to product execution. The company plans to use its infrastructure and DEXTools distribution to create an integrated trading destination covering market discovery and execution. PERPTools is targeting a Q4 2026 token generation event as it continues expanding its perpetual trading products and AI-based trading infrastructure.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
